The final team (dogs, sled and musher) has crossed under the burled arch in Nome.
The Widow’s Lamp has been extinguished signaling that the final team is off the course.
The Red Lantern is earned and the 2020 Champion crowned.
The 2020 Iditarod is complete.
The final group of mushers reached Nome on Sunday including two competitors with ties to the Kenai Peninsula completing their 1049 mile journey, both enduring harsh weather, wind and water overflow on the ice as members of the Elim 11, a collective which was stranded at the Elim checkpoint.
The Elim 11 consisted of Martin Buser, Deke Naaktgeboren, Riley Dyche, Dennis Kananowicz, Kaci Murringer, Monica Zappa, Damon Ramaker, Laura Neese, Fabio Berlusconi, Magnus Kaltenborn and Grayson Bruton.
Once returned to the trail to complete the Iditarod, Sterling’s Grayson Bruton pushed ahead of Martin Buser for a 24th place finish; Buser in 25th (with full team of 14 dogs); Bruton clocking in at 7:20.09 and Buser at 7:50.34. Kasilof’s Monica Zappa finished 31st crossing at 9:42.02 on Sunday.
Grayson Bruton completed the 22-mile run from Safety to Nome in under three hours posting a time of 2 hours, 56 minutes. Monica Zappa clocked in at 3 hours, 18 minutes for the Safety to Nome leg.
Iditarod Final Results
Norway’s Thomas Waerner arrived under the Burled Arch in Nome at 12:37 a.m. on Wednesday morning to claim first place in the Iditarod. Waerner recorded a total race time of 9 days, 10 hours, 37 minutes, and 47 seconds.
Mitch Seavey of Seward, with a late push and strong final legs into Nome, places second overall completing the race in 9 days, 16 hours, 15 minutes, 38 seconds.
Seward’s Travis Beals turned in a top-10 finish in 2020, following a 5th place finish in 2019.
Lance Mackey, formerly of Kasilof, crossed the finish line in Nome on Thursday at 3:06 p.m. recording a race time of 11 days, 1 hour, 6 minutes and becoming the third peninsula musher to finish the 2020 Iditarod. Mackey places 21st overall.
Kasilof’s Anna and Kristy Berington scratch in Unalakleet (due to family issues).
Thirty-four teams completed the run from Willow to Nome on the Northern Course; 23 teams either scratched or withdrew (not including five teams which withdrew before the ceremonial start on March 7th in downtown Anchorage).
Iditarod Purse
The 2020 purse will start at $500,000 with the highest percentages paid to places 1-20, and includes $1,049.00 for places 21 through the last musher to finish the race.
The Iditarod official breakdown of its $500,000 race purse is by finishing position. The prize money is based on the total finishers. The top 20 finishers get a share of the purse, which varies from year to year depending on sponsorships, entry fees and fundraising. The 20th-place finisher last year earned $10,343.
Every finisher from 21st place down gets $1,049, a symbolic amount representing the symbolic distance of the Iditarod – a thousand miles plus 49, a nod to Alaska’s status as the 49th state to join the union.
2019 top Finishers & Prize Money
1st place: $51,299 (Peter Kaiser)
2nd place: $43,143 (Joar Leifseth Ulsom):
3rd place: $39,793 (Jessie Royer)
