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Top Thirty Mushers into Nome

Back of the Pack Approaching Unalakleet

by Andy Moderow

03/16/2006

Thirty four of the mushers who started the race in Anchorage have completed the trail to Nome, but by no means is the Iditarod over yet. Two days after Jeff King’s finish, teams continue to trot into Nome at a steady rate, as they will for a several more days.

In 11th place, Jessie Royer, 2001’s Rookie of the Year, claimed her second best Iditarod finish. She managed to move up 5 positions since Unalakleet, doing what she usually does: Passing teams on her final runs into Nome. 12th place musher Cim Smyth managed to claim the ‘Fastest Time From Safety to Nome’ award, completing the final leg of the race in 2 hours and 5 minutes. A musher who enters the Iditarod each year because he believes it’s ‘a good trip’, Sonny Lindner, took home 13th position, and Aliy Zirkle, a former Yukon Quest Champion, claimed 14th place. Ken Anderson, from Fairbanks, AK, claimed 15th place, and Aaron Burmeister tied his second best Iditarod finish, finishing in 16th.

Ramey Smyth finished 17th on his fourteenth trip into Nome, and Melanie Gould broke into the top-20 for the first time in her Iditarod career, claiming 18th place. William Hanes and Louis Nelson, Sr. rounded off the top-20, claiming 19th and 20th respectively.

Rookie of the year Mike Jayne finished the Iditarod in 25th place, completing the trail in 10 days, 13 hours, 7 minutes and 15 seconds. This time was the 8th fastest rookie finish in the history of the race.

Nome is getting more crowded by the minute as teams and additional spectators arrive. On the streets of Nome, mushers fresh off the trail are easy to pick out of the crowd, because they usually show some signs of the weather: Minor frostbite and sun/windburns are a common facial feature of recent Iditarod finishers, a small physical remnant of the race they just completed.