King Wins Second Iditarod After Hanging Back In Pack

Jeff King won his second Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, coasting into this historic Gold Rush community to the sounds of sirens and hundreds of cheering spectators.

King, a former Northern Californian who learned how to mush as a ranger at Denali National Park and Preserve, finished the 1,151-mile race with a second-best time of nine days, 5 hours, 43 minutes.

Only defending champion Doug Swingley of Simms, Mont., has done better in the Iditarod’s 24-year history, winning last year in 9 days, 2 hours, 42 minutes.

Swingley took second place this year in 9 days, 8 hours, 3 minutes.

The 39-year-old Denali Park musher will take home the $50,000 winner’s share of the $300,000 purse and a $30,000 pickup truck.

“The team was really a joy,” King said at the finish line. “I had to keep my feet off the gas pedal early.”

King finished the race with six of his original 16 dogs. He was carrying another dog in the sled as he led his team under the burled arch that marks the official end of the race.

It’s not uncommon for exhausted mushers to get lost along the northern coast of Norton Sound, as happened early Tuesday to Martin Buser and Dee Dee Jonrowe.

The pair left Golovin, 18 miles from White Mountain, at 4:30 a.m., fighting for third. But both took a wrong turn when the trail split and headed 10 miles into the hills rather than across the sea ice on Golovin Bay. It was a $3,500 mistake - the difference between third and fourth - and an advantage quickly seized by Kasilof musher Tim Osmar. By the time Buser and Jonrowe got back on the trail, Osmar’s team was trotting into White Mountain, 2 hours ahead.

King spent much of the race staying even or just behind Swingley, Buser and Jonrowe. He was able to conserve his team’s energy through a rough middle stretch of the route, from Ophir through Cripple and on to the Yukon River village of Ruby.

Buser was forced to drop several dogs there that had tired because of river overflow and ice along the route. Swingley and Jonrowe’s teams fought diarrhea.

But King was able to hang onto 13 dogs well past the race’s halfway point, giving him at times a two-dog advantage over the other leaders.

In the race’s first three days, King said he was letting as many as five dogs trot along without having to pull the sled, further conserving energy.

With a comfortable cushion late into the race, King treated himself to almost 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep before preparing his team for the final sprint along the coast.

King dropped two dogs at the last minute, leaving him with seven veterans for the final push along a flat, fast trail to Nome. One had a limp, and the other was in heat - a distraction his team’s males didn’t need.

Swingley said he and Buser might have burned each other out “playing cat and mouse games” earlier.