Buser Takes 3rd Iditarod Victory; Montanan Swingley In Second

Martin Buser fought off a spirited challenge from Doug Swingley to capture his third Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, crossing under the burled arched that marks the finish line at 7:31 p.m. (8:31 p.m. PST).

Buser finished the 1,100-mile race in 9 days, 8 hours, 31 minutes - slower than the 9-day, 2-hour record set by 1995 champion Doug Swingley of Lincoln, Mont. Swingley was running in second place, about 2 hours behind Buser.

Buser gets $50,000 and a $38,000 truck for winning the race.

Buser, Swingley and defending champion Jeff King had been leap-frogging up the trail for most of the race. Buser took the lead when he blasted through the Shageluk checkpoint early Friday, gaining 90 minutes on Swingley. He was able to hang on to that lead for the next 500 miles.

“I knew this dog team had an awful lot of potential here. They’re just an awfully good team of athletes,” Buser said. “I kept holding them back trying to gauge my competition a little bit.”

Swingley made an 11th-hour push to catch Buser late Monday but had only eight dogs to Buser’s 10.