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Hi, ADN Iditarod fans,

This year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has officially come to an end. At a banquet in Nome on Sunday, organizers celebrated the race finishers and presented annual awards.

In all, 29 competitive mushers finished the 975-mile race, while five scratched. Two mushers participating in the Iditarod's inaugural Expedition Class ended their runs early, while one made the full journey to Nome.

The competitive race concluded on Friday night when the final musher, Richie Beattie, crossed under the burled arch after 12 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 46 seconds. He had eight dogs in harness. 

Brecken Wallace, Dorthy Saakritne, Brian Saakritne and Olive Wallace reach out for high-fives and souvenirs from Richie Beattie’s team on Cordova Street during the Iditarod's ceremonial start in Anchorage on March 7 (Bob Hallinen photo)

As the last musher to reach Nome, Beattie was presented with the Red Lantern Award, which comes with $1,000.

Repeat champion Jessie Holmes took home more than $80,000 for his victory. That's in addition to the myriad awards he won throughout the course of the race for arriving at certain checkpoints first.

Those accomplishments came with additional cash, art, gold and food.

Jessie Holmes gets a glass of champagne to go with his five-course meal in Ruby. The meal is awarded to the first musher to reach the checkpoint of Ruby, a village on the Yukon River. (Marc Lester / ADN)

The second- through 20th-place finishers all received descending five-digit payouts, ranging from $65,700 given to No. 2 musher Travis Beals down to $13,900 to Chad Stoddard. 

The remaining mushers each received $2,000 for their finish, almost double the usual $1,049 given those who complete the race.

As the first rookie to cross the finish line, in 14th place, Canada's Jesse Terry was named Rookie of the Year, earning him $2,000. 

Iditarod Rookie of the Year Jesse Terry poses at the Iditarod finish line with his wife, Mary England, and lead dogs, Moonwatcher and Jitterbug, in Nome. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Hanna Lyrek of Norway received the Most Improved Musher award, which comes with $2,000. She had finished in 19th place during her rookie run in 2019. This year she came in 11th.

Some of the honors are voted on by volunteers and other competitors. Riley Dyche won the Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award, which is selected by the race’s veterinary team to recognize “outstanding dog care while remaining competitive throughout the race.” The prize comes with a trophy and covers the entry fee for the 2027 Iditarod.

Cantwell's Paige Drobny, a perennially competitive race veteran who finished fourth this year, was chosen by her fellow competitors as the race’s Most Inspirational Musher. The award covers her entry fee for next year’s Iditarod.

Drobny had announced prior to the race that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was undergoing treatment.

Paige Drobny, the second musher to arrive in Ruby, answers questions as she parks her team. (Marc Lester / ADN)

You can find all of this year's Iditarod awards and full breakdown of the race winnings here.

That's a wrap on the 2026 race. Thank you all for joining us and following along with our coverage. You can find all of our stories and photos from this year's Iditarod on our website. Until next year...

Happy trails, 

Megan Pacer
mpacer@adn.com

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