Iditarod musher Hans Gatt's lead dog Big Girl eats a fish head on Front Street in Nome, Alaska, the finish of the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NOME, Alaska — The last musher in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has crossed the finish line in Nome on Alaska’s western coast.

Ellen Halverson of Wasilla finished the 1,150-mile race at 10:45 a.m. Sunday, five days after winner John Baker of Kotzebue.

Halverson’s race from Anchorage to Nome took 13 days, 19 hours and 45 minutes.

Halverson wins the Red Lantern award for being the last of 47 mushers to finish. She also won the Red Lantern as a rookie in 2007.

Race officials say the 50-year-old is the only musher ever to earn two Red Lantern awards.

By TOM HINTGEN
Fergus Falls Daily Journal, Minn., (MCT)

A taste of Alaska sled dog racing came last week to Cleveland School in Fergus Falls, Minn. Three third grade classes entered 15 teams in Iditarod competition, with five teams from each class. Teachers are Vicki Hanneman, Kim Kamrowski and Karen Schneck.

“The kids are having fun, so are we adults watching them,” said Lisa Pelletier while watching her daughter, Leslie, on the snow-covered hill just south of the elementary school.

Also on hand to watch the competition were Leslie’s great-grandmother, Rosann Sauck, and her grandfather, Paul Jaros. Standing nearby was Jade Goulet, watching her daughter, Atlanta.

“The kids have been excited about this (Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race) for many weeks,” said Goulet. “They couldn’t have picked a better day than today to have the competition.”

Each team included a musher and four dogs. Volunteers held
Willow and Nome signs. The four dogs on each team had special
positions determined by the team. One was the lead dog, another the swing dog, a third was the team dog and the fourth, which was nearest to the sled, was the wheel dog.

In the real races in Alaska, teams frequently race through blizzards. A ceremonial start occurs in the city of Anchorage and is followed by the official restart in Willow, a city in the south central region of the state.
The trail runs from Willow up the Rainy Pass of the Alaska Range into the sparsely populated interior, and then along the shore of the Bering Sea, finally reaching Nome in western Alaska. The trail is through a harsh landscape of tundra and spruce forests, over hills and mountain passes, and across rivers.

While the start in Anchorage is in the middle of a large urban center, most of the route passes through widely separated towns and villages. The Iditarod is regarded as a symbolic link to the early history of the state and is connected to many traditions commemorating the legacy of dog mushing.

“It’s great that the kids can not only have some fun today, but also learn more about what the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is all about,” said Pelletier.

These 21 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race images include the arrival of musher John Baker into Nome, Alaska. He was the first to cross the finish line in the epic race across the Alaska wilderness. Baker completed the race in eight days 19 hours 46 minutes, a new record.

Iditarod musher Aliy Zirkle, from Two Rivers, Alaska, mushes into into the Unalakleet, Alaska checkpoint during the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Sunday, March 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)

Andri Gristlvowsky of Unalakleet, Alaska photographs Iditarod musher Ken Anderson, from Fairbanks, as he mushes along the Unalakleet River on his way into the Unalakleet checkpoint during the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Sunday, March 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)

Native drummers including including Allison Warden, members of Pamyua and Sheldon Katchatag and dancer Mary Huntington greet John Baker on Tuesday, March 15, 2011 in Nome, Alaska. Baker, 48, of Kotzebue, Alaska, is the first Alaska Native musher to win the world's longest sled dog race since Jerry Riley did it in 1976. (AP Photo/The Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)

ditarod musher Hugh Neff, from Tok, AK, works with his dog Tolliver as he gets ready to leave the Anvik, Alaska, checkpoint during the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Friday, March 11, 2011. (AP Photo/The Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)

RACHEL D’ORO,Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Veteran musher John Baker was holding on to his lead Sunday in the 1,150-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, at least three hours ahead of his closest rivals.

Baker was the first to reach the village of Shaktoolik on Alaska’s wind-scoured western coast on Norton Sound. He arrived with 11 dogs at 2:44 p.m., now about 230 miles away from the finish line in the old gold rush town of Nome.

Earlier Sunday, Baker was the first to leave the village of Unalakleet for the 40-mile stretch to the Shaktoolik checkpoint. For being the first to reach Unalakleet, Baker won $2,500 in gold nuggets.

Check out these 25 pictures from the trail of the 2011 Iditarod sled dog race. These images were sent from the middle area of the course around Takotna area.
You can see more Iditarod action at the race website or by visiting the Anchorage Daily News website.

The aurora borealis, or northern lights, fill the sky above the Takotna, Alaska checkpoint as Ed Stielstra's dogs rest during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 9, 2011. (AP Photo/The Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)

Takotna, Alaska, resident Rosalie Perkins works on a beaded lighter case at the Takotna checkpoint during the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Thursday, night March 10, 2011. (AP Photo/BOB HALLINEN / Anchorage Daily News)

Iditarod musher DeeDee Jonrowe from Willow, AK feeds her sled dogs at the Takotna checkpoint during the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, afternoon March 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)

Fiddle one of Iditarod musher Ed Stielstra's sled dogs rests at the Takotna, Alaska checkpoint during the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Thursday March 10, 2011. (AP Photo/The Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)