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Nome Banquet Honors Iditarod XXXIV Participants

Red Lantern Winner Still To Be Determined

by Iditarod Staff

03/19/2006

Nome gathered last night in the city’s Recreation Center to honor those who have completed Iditarod XXXIV. With five teams still on the trail, a second banquet is scheduled for Tuesday night, when all the teams are expected in. Every musher that finishes the race is guaranteed a banquet and an official finishers belt buckle, no matter how long it takes him or her to finish.

The winner of several awards was determined long before teams reached Nome. For being the first to McGrath, Doug Swingley received the PenAir ‘Spirit of Alaska’ Award. He also received the GCI ‘Dorothy G. Page’ Halfway Award, for being the first musher into Cripple. Paul Gebhardt took home the Millennium Alaskan Hotel’s ‘First Musher To The Yukon’ Award for being the first into Ruby.

All remaining awards that were given based on the ‘first team’ criteria belonged to Iditarod XXXIV champion Jeff King. In addition to taking home the Wells Fargo Winners Purse, he also won a brand new 2006 Dodge Ram Cummins Turbo Diesel from Anchorage Chrysler Dodge. King also received the Wells Fargo ‘Gold Coast’ Award for reaching the checkpoint of Unalakleet first.

Cim Smyth won the Nome Kennel Club’s ‘Fastest Time From Safety to Nome’ Award for obvious reasons: His run length of 2 hours 5 minutes was by far the fastest travel time in the top-20. Rick Casillo won the GIT Satellite Communication’s ‘Most Improved Musher Award’, bettering his previous best finish of 57th by more than 20 places. Mike Jayne took home the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award for placing higher than any other Iditarod first-timers.

Not all the awards given out at the banquet were based on statistics, determined by finish order. The Chevron ‘Most Inspirational Musher’ Award was given to Tove Sorensen, and the Fred Meyer Sportsmanship Award was given to Tollef Monson. Remember hearing about the evil tree stump near Cripple that destroyed the sleds of the many, including Martin Buser? When Tollef hit the stump, he decided to pull out his axe and remove it from the trail. This, among other factors, was the reasoning behind him receiving the sportsmanship award, which was voted on by the Iditarod Official Finishers Club. Paul Gebhardt was selected by vets to win the Alaska Airlines ‘Leonhard Seppala’ Humanitarian Award, for demonstrating outstanding dog care throughout the race.

Not only the mushers were honored at this years banquet: Several awards were given out that, like the Sportsmanship and Most Inspirational Musher awards, were selected by the Iditarod Official Finishers Club. The checkpoint of Takotna won the ‘Golden Clipboard’ Award, recognized as the best checkpoint on the race, and Dr. Paul Pifer received the ‘Golden Stethoscope’ Award, the top honors that any vet can earn in the Iditarod. Salem, Jeff King’s leader, won the ‘Lolly Medley’ Golden Harness Award.

One award remains: The ‘Red Lantern’ will be given to the final musher who reaches Nome. Currently, Katrina Pawlaczyk is the last musher on the trail. She is due into Nome sometime early Tuesday morning, roughly one week after Jeff King won his 4th title.

Congratulations to all entrants of Iditarod XXXIV, and thanks again to all sponsors and supporters of the race.