Nome, Alaska – Jessie Holmes, a former reality television star, won the longest IDITAROD TRAIL SLED DOG RACE On Friday, celebrating with punches a crowd that lights and posing for photos with their two teammates, Hercules and Polar adorned with the floral crown, Hercules and Polar.
Holmes was the first in the finish line in the Gold city of Nome, on the Bering Sea coast. The race It started on March 3 in Fairbanks After the lack of snow, he forced changes to the route and the starting point.
That made the race normally 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) was an amazing amount of 1,129 miles (1,817 kilometers) through the Alaska desert. Holmes ended in 10 days, 14 hours, 55 minutes and 41 seconds.
“It’s hard to put in words, but it’s a magical sensation,” said Holmes shortly after crossing the finish line. “It’s not about this moment now. It’s all those moments along the way.”
Holmes, who was competing for the eighth time, previously ended in the top 10 times, including the third last year and in 2022. In his first Iditarod, in 2018, his seventh place earned him the rookie honors of the year.
Born and raised in Alabama, Holmes left at 18 and worked as a carpenter in Montana for three years. He arrived in Alaska in 2004 and found an adventure running dogs in a remote location of the Yukon River.
“There have been 10 really surprising days and I soaken in each part: the minimums, the maximums, the inmates. … I am very proud of these dogs and I love you. And they did. They deserve all the credit, “said Holmes.
He gave special greeting to his two main canines, Hercules, his dog in half a footprint and polar, saying: “He is the brain behind the operation.”
Holmes now lives in Nenana, where she works as a carpenter and lives a subsistence lifestyle. From 2015 to 2023, he was a member of the “Life Under Zero” cast, a National Geographic program that documes the struggles of Alaska inhabitants who live in remote parts of the state.
Besides The lack of snow To the north of the Alaska mountain range that forced the change of the starting point to Fairbanks, the organizers of the race also had to make changes in the ceremonial beginning in Anchorage.
With the snow walking to cover the streets in the largest city of the state, the route of the usual parade there was shortened from 11 miles to less than 2 miles (from approximately 18 kilometers to less than 3.2 kilometers), and the number of dogs was reduced.
Only 33 Mushers began in Fairbanks, tied with 2023 for the smallest field in history. The fall in the participants has raised concerns about the viability of the race, which has had to deal with inflation, climate change and Pressure of animal rights groups.
A dog died in this year’s Iditarod: a pregnant woman in Musher Daniel Klein’s team, who under the rules of the race scratched himself due to death.
Almost a third of the mushers renounce early, including eight that scratched and two that were removed for not being competitive.
