By Terrie Hanke in Nome

Jamie Kinzer was the first musher to arrive at the burled arch on St. Patrick’s Day. Kinzer, a rookie, has endured a lot of tough weather to earn the coveted belt buckle.

It was Murphy’s Law #35 – on the ninety mile run from Kaltag to Unalakleet, the temperature dropped to minus thirty-five degrees then out at Shaktoolik, winds of thirty-five miles per hour created a ground blizzard that held teams hostage at the checkpoint. On the run in from White Mountain, Kinzer had her dogs in their best Irish green attire but after coming over Topkok, the dogs were getting warm so it was time to take the coats off. Jamie said the young dogs had a great run and they could have done even better had it not been for her mistakes like over sleeping at Elim.

Their run from Safety to Nome was clocked at 2 hours and 46 minutes which tied Jody Bailey’s time. Kinzer’s rookie run took 12d 15h 58m 30s to put her in 47th place.

The fire siren sounded to announce Matt Failor’s arrival with the Buser puppy team. The Buser family, Dee Dee Jonrowe, Jamie Kinzer, Art Church, Jr. and others from the Big Lake area gather for the welcome. Matt’s turbo charged huskies came charging down Front Street toward the chute and passed it by on the left hand side. Matt got the team stopped which was a little like stopping a freight train. Then with the help of Martin and Rohn, the team turned around and went into the chute to the official finish line.

Failor’s dogs were anything but done running – they all stood happily chewing on salmon snacks with tails flagging. Matt congratulated each and every dog. Martin, looking on, was very pleased with the energy and enthusiasm his puppies were showing after running 1049 miles. Looking at the stats page, Failor and dogs charged from Safety to Nome in just 2 hours and 30 minutes.