It wasn’t just spring because the calendar said so, there were other signs of spring in Nome on Saturday,. The sun rose at 9:01 then set at 9:19 providing more than 12 hours of daylight. The low temperature was 10 above and the high reached 28, both being well above average. The day was bright, the sun was warm and by sled dog standards it was almost summery. Add one more sign of spring – the Red Lantern musher crossed the finish line to finalize Iditarod XXXVIII.

Celeste Davis, bib 58, and her team of nine dogs led by Thelma and Turbo came off the Bering Sea onto Front Street and crossed under the burled arch at 8:06 pm (22:06) in complete daylight. A large crowd of town’s folk, Iditarod staff, volunteers and race fans greeted her enthusiastically. It’s quite rare to have all of the teams into Nome before the Sunday evening Finisher’s Banquet. The norm is to honor those who have finished by the time of the banquet on Sunday then hold another banquet to honor those who come in later. Guaranteed though, every finisher is honored with a banquet.

Davis, who lives in Deer Lodge, Montana has posted the fastest Red Lantern time ever. After leaving the Willow start at 3:52 pm (15:52) on March 6th, she ran up Front Street in Nome and under the burled arch at 8:06 pm on March 20th for a time of 13 days, 5 hours, 6 minutes and 40 seconds. To compute a team’s race time, the two mandatory 8 hour rests and the required 24 hour layover are subtracted from the total elapsed time between start and finish.

The previous record Red Lantern time belongs to David Straub who earned the lantern crossing under the burled arch in 2002 with a time of 14 days, 5 hours, 38 minutes and 12 seconds. Coincidentally, that was the year that Martin Buser claimed the fastest Iditarod time ever. That record still stands but Martin is no longer the only musher to finish in less than 9 days. Lance Mackey and his team of speedsters led by Rev and Maple are also in the record books with an 8-day finish – but only by 51 seconds. It’s hard to know exactly what all went into the 2 best winning times and the 2 best Red Lantern times in race history happening in the same year. Was the trail in 2002 rumored to be terrible, were there lengthy bare sections in the burn, were the tussocks brutal? In contrast to the information provided by the Iron Dog Snowmachine racers, the trail was actually fast and good for the dogs. Martin Buser said prior to the race, when the trail is bad for the snowmachines, it’s great for the dogs. Buser hit the nail squarely on the head!

There are two lanterns that are significant in Iditarod. There’s the Red Lantern that’s awarded to the last musher to cross the finish line in Nome. It represents perseverance and stick-to-itiveness in the mushing world of Alaska. The Red Lantern dates back to 1953 when it was first awarded in the Fur Rendezvous. The second lantern, the Widow’s Lamp dates back to the days when freight and mail were hauled by dog team across Alaska. A kerosene lamp was lit and hung outside the roadhouses along the trial. Not only did the lamp helped the driver to find his destination at night but it also signified that drivers and teams were somewhere on the trail. When the musher reached his destination, the Widow’s Lamp was extinguished. In keeping with this tradition, the Widow’s Lamp is lit in Nome and hung on the burled arch as the first musher leaves the restart at Willow. It remains lit until the final team reaches Nome.

While Iditarod has only one champion, every musher who either attempts the race or finishes the race is a winner. Iditarod is a very personal journey filled with barriers that are turned into hurdles, obstacles that are converted to opportunities and problems that result in solutions. After crashing in the Gorge and sustaining a broken nose and concussion, Red Lantern winner, Celeste Davis, is the epitome of perseverance and stick-to-itiveness. Congratulations to Celeste and Lance and to everyone who finished between them. Congratulations also to the 16 mushers who attempted to conquer the trail and live their Iditarod dream in 2010.

Born to Run,

Sanka]