Last place musher arrives in Nome, ending the Iditarod

ANCHORAGE — The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has officially ended.

Mary Helwig, a 32-year-old rookie from Willow, Alaska, was the last musher to reach Nome.

She arrived in the Bering Sea coastal community at 11:51 p.m. Saturday with 11 dogs in harness and the red lantern, carried by the last place musher.

The musher’s annual banquet will be held in Nome on Sunday afternoon.

Helwig finished the nearly 1,000 mile (1,600 kilometer) race across Alaska in 13 days, 8 hours, 51 minutes and 30 seconds.

Dallas Seavey won his fourth Iditarod on Tuesday in record time: 8 days, 11 hours, 20 minutes and16 seconds.

Eighty-five mushers began the race March 6 just north of Anchorage; 14 scratched from this year’s Iditarod.

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