The finisher’s banquet is everybody’s favorite and least favorite part of the race – the mushers get to reflect and share stories from the trail, and they thank their sponsors before collecting their trophies, finisher’s patches, and vet books before signing autographs and heading back to their table to listen to the rest of the mushers share their stories.

Last year I shared a story about my lead dog, Sarah Jane, who lead almost my entire race, and who has been a part of my kennel since she was just one day old. I burst into tears and couldn’t even get the story out, because she means so much to me, and of course I got lots of “awwws” from people at the banquet. It’s the best part because you get to share those fun stories, but the worst because you’re so sleep deprived and emotional after being on the trail for so long.

At the time of this writing there’s still two mushers on the trail into Nome, let’s keep cheering them on!