Iditarod 54 comes to a close with 29 finishers reaching Nome

The 54th running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race came to a conclusion on Friday evening, when Richie Beattie arrived in Nome at 7:49 p.m. Beattie, of Fairbanks, extinguished the Widow’s Lantern, officially signaling that all mushers are off the trail. He and eight other mushers were holed up in White Mountain from Wednesday evening until Friday morning, sitting out a severe ground storm that raged through the Topkok hills and the blowhole.
Mushers, volunteers, fans and race officials packed the Nome Rec Center Sunday night for the Iditarod Finisher’s Banquet. Outside, it was cold and clear, but inside it was warm and cheery as hundreds of people ate a dinner of prime rib, potatoes, salad and the famous chocolate covered strawberries, listening to music by the Loose Dogs and celebrated the finishers of Iditarod 54.
Jessie Holmes, the winner of this year’s race, received a paycheck of $80,700 for his win. The total prize purse this year was $650,000.
Holmes swept the place-based awards, taking home the Alaska Air Transit Spirit of Iditarod Award awarded to the first musher to McGrath; the GCI Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award, awarded to the first musher into Cripple, this year’s halfway point; the First to the Yukon Award, awarded to the first into Ruby; the Bristol Bay Native Corporation Fish First Award, given to the first musher into Kaltag; the Ryan Air Gold Coast Award, given to the first musher to Unalakleet; and the Northrim Bank Achieve More Award, given to the first musher to reach White Mountain.
Holmes received artwork, gold nuggets and prize money. “I tell you, it’s the worst part about this, winning all these awards, is to stand up here and feel like a glutton winning all this,” he said. “I’m so grateful for all these awards, and I’m going to try to slow down next year a little bit and let somebody else win some.”
Holmes also received the Northern Air Cargo Herbie Nayokpuk Memorial Award, awarded to the musher who best showcases the spirit of Herbie Nayokpuk by checkers along the trail. Holmes was particularly touched when accepting the award. “This is really emotional to me to win this award. It’s very special,” he said, voice cracking with emotion. “Herbie Nayokpuk is someone I’ve always looked up to and many of my mentors have told me many stories about. I will cherish this more than any award I’ve ever received.” Herbie Nayokpuk was a legendary musher from Shishmaref, who finished the Iditarod eleven times between 1973 and 1988. His nickname was the “Shishmaref Cannonball.”
When accepting his first-place finish, Holmes thanked the communities along the trail. He said that spending time with people in the communities along the trail gave him energy all the way to the finish. “I think I’m going to be changing my strategy and staying in a lot more checkpoints and just look forward to next year and visiting and seeing you all,” he said.
Holmes also thanked his dogs. He said that the reason he loves mushing is watching his dogs grow from puppies and training them up to cross the Iditarod finish line with him. “I’m never going to let them dogs down, because they never let me down, and that’s the reason that we’re here at the finish line, and it’s just an incredible team of dogs,” he said.
Holmes’ lead dogs, Zeus and Polar, were awarded the City of Nome Lolly Medley Memorial Golden Harness Award. Holmes accepted the award on their behalf. “Lead dogs like Polar, they’re once in a lifetime type dogs, and I’ve been blessed to have Zeus developing since last year’s race,” said Holmes. “I would love for them to be here for you all to see, but they’re way more comfortable out there in the dog yard.”
Travis Beals, who came in second, thanked his mother, who he said got him into dogs in the first place. “She passed away this winter, but I can tell you, she was out there with me the entire way in the quiet moments and the tough stretches of trail, I could feel her,” he said.
Jeff Deeter, finishing third this year, took home the Nome Kennel Club Fastest Time from Safety to Nome, receiving $500 and a Nome Kennel Club sweatshirt and All Alaska Sweepstakes hat. “I just got to say that I got a hell of a dog team that likes to go fast, and I apologize to my fellow competitors on the coast, they were ripping,” he said.
Ryan Redington, who finished 13th, was chosen by his fellow mushers to receive the Donlin Gold Sportsmanship award, receiving a check for $3,000 and a plaque. “It’s a big honor for me to receive this award. Every musher in this race deserves to win this award,” he said. “I really struggled in this race, and so many mushers helped me in this race. It makes me want to come back and race this race many more times.”
Paige Drobny, who finished in fourth place, was voted “most inspirational” by her fellow mushers and received the Hilcorp Alaska Most Inspirational Musher Award and free entry into next year’s race. Drobny’s kennel announced on social media on March 8 that she was diagnosed with breast cancer last August and had spent the fall undergoing treatment. While accepting the award, Drobny said that she never intended to be an inspiration for anyone. “I’m just out there running with my dogs, and those are the ones that truly deserve the inspiration award,” she said. “They get us up and moving every day and out there and I just love traveling with them. If that can be a little bit of inspiration for other people, I appreciate it.”
Riley Dyche finished in seventh place this year was given the Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award. Dyche was not there to accept it, however – instead, Lauro Eklund accepted it for him. Dyche left Nome early to be with his wife who was about to give birth. 
The Glenfarne Alaska LNG Most Improved Musher Award went to Hanna Lyrek of Norway, who finished in 11th place and took home a check for $2,000 and a trophy.
In her first Iditarod in 2022, Lyrek was 19th. Hanna thanked her dog team, her kennel, and her fellow mushers. “Congrats to Jessie for your second win and continuing being an inspiration for me and us other mushers,” she said. “We’re going to save up enough money and make our way back, so we’ll see you in a couple of years.”
Jessie Royer, who has completed the Iditarod 21 times and finished in the top ten eight times, earned a 12th place finish this year.
Royer told the crowd that she lost her dog team this year after she lost her grip on her sled while wearing a new pair of mittens. “I lost my team, and literally, just start praying, and I only walked two to three minutes, and there was my team strung out, not a single tangle. Everyone was just sitting there waiting for me,” she said. “If that wasn’t a miracle, I don’t know what was, so I was pretty thankful for that.”
Jessie Terry, of Sioux Lookout, Ontario, won this year’s Rookie of the Year, finishing in 14th place with a time of 10 days, 13 hours, 36 minutes and three seconds. Terry said that Holmes convinced him to run this year’s race and paid part of his entry fee. “He basically sponsored a portion of my entry fee to be here,” said Terry. “That’s how much support and encouragement that the mushing community has within itself to see it grow and see it prosper.”
Bailey Vitello, who has finished the race three times before and earned fifth place last year, finished the race in 17th place this year. Vitello said his dogs showed their tenacity this year. “They really showed their colors and went through a lot,” he said. “I was sick last year and they were sick this year, so I think next year we’ve gotten it wrapped up, and we’re going to all be healthy next year.”
The 21st through 29th places in this year’s Iditarod all spent many hours holed up in White Mountain waiting for the winds in Topkok hills and blowhole to die down. After the storm slowed down, they left White Mountain on Friday morning and arrived in Nome within hours of one another.
Kevin Hansen, a rookie from Kotzebue, finished in 21st place. He said he was happy with his dogs. “We stalled out in White Mountain for about 38 hours, but that really made it a fun, fun run into Nome and fast run,” he said.
Sam Paperman, a rookie, finished in 24th place. Paperman received the Howard Farley Sr. Memorial award presented by the Nome Kennel Club, given to a random musher who finishes outside the top twenty. Nome Kennel Club President Aaron Burmeister presented the award. “Howard was never a real competitive musher,” said Burmeister. “He started all the races. He finished, but he didn’t worry about first place or second place. He was all about the journey, the lifestyle, raising the dogs, living with the dogs, being on the trail.”
Brenda Mackey finished in 26th place after scratching in 2021 and 2025. Mackey said that she had initially been aiming for the Red Lantern in honor of her uncle Bill Mackey, who won the award in 1985 and passed away last summer. “I don’t really like getting emotional, but that was my thought,” she said. “I couldn’t quite go slow enough behind Richie in the blowhole to do it. Not a good place to stop.”
Richie Beattie, who arrived in last place, was awarded the Lynden “Committed through the Last Mile” Red Lantern Award. He finished in a time of 12 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 46 seconds. “I had no idea there was $1,000 in it until I got here,” he said. “So, joke’s on the other eight of you guys that took off ahead.”
All throughout the banquet, mushers exiting the stage drew a key from a bucket held by a Northern Air Cargo employee and tried it in the ignition of a shiny new Honda four-wheeler to check if they had the lucky key. Lauro Eklund, who finished in eighth place this year, had the lucky key.
The golden clipboard award, given to the checkpoint that official finishers feel was the most helpful that year, was presented to both McGrath and Takotna.
Five mushers scratched in various parts in the race out of the field of 34 who started. One tragic moment came when a four-year-old dog named Charley died in Mille Porsild’s team, just before reaching Elim. The Iditarod said in a statement that a board-certified veterinary pathologist conducted a gross necropsy that “did not identify any obvious traumatic or medical abnormalities to explain Charley’s death.” Further testing will be conducted, the ITC statement said.