Final mushers arrive in Nome

With 64 mushers beginning the 2002 Iditarod over two weeks ago, the 55th and final competitor crossed the finish line Sunday in Nome to draw the race to a close.

In addition to Martin Buser's tremendous victory to return the Iditarod crown to the Valley and Vern Halter's second-half surge to take 5th place, many other Valley mushers completed impressive runs to finish well in the race.

Ramey Smyth of Big Lake returned to the top 10 with a 7th-place finish in this year's Iditarod. Smyth's best finish was 6th place

in 1998.

After a solid race that kept Willow's DeeDee Jonrowe in the top 10 throughout the majority of the race, she sustained some injuries to her team that forced her to take an additional rest outside of Elim. Jonrowe regrouped and finished the race strong to take 16th place.

Big Lake's Lynda Plettner finished 20th in the race, her best finish in nine trips up the trail.

"Coming into the race, I didn't think I had a good team to run this year," Plettner said after the race. "The dogs were so happy out there, they just wanted to run. I think the reason I got a top-20 finish this year is because I really enjoyed being with these dogs."

Peter Bartlett of Wasilla turned in an impressive rookie run by completing the race in 10 days, 16 hours, 13 minutes and 10 seconds to finish in 26th place.

Another rookie, Gerald Sousa of Talkeetna, finished 35th in the race.

Twenty-four year old Melanie Gould from Talkeetna finished 37th in her second time competing in the Iditarod. She finished 64th in her rookie ride in 2000.

Wasilla's Devan Currier completed his rookie run up the trail to take 50th place in the race.

Lesley Monk of Willow competed in her second Iditarod, finishing for the first time to take 51st place. Monk last competed in the race

in 1988.

Rookie G.B. Jones from Wasilla completed the trip to take 52nd place with Bill Borden from Kennesaw, Ga. finishing behind to take 53rd. Borden and family live in Wasilla during the winter to train and be a part of the Iditarod

experience.

Rookie David Straub of Willow completed the race as the last musher through the Burled Arch, extinguishing the red lantern to bring the 2002 Iditarod race to a close Sunday at 3:38 p.m.

As the last musher to complete the race, Straub received the Red Lantern award.

Straub's Red Lantern finish established the fastest time that the last musher has ever completed the race. Straub finished the race in 14:5:38:12, eclispsing the old mark by less than four minutes.

Two dogs died during or shortly after the race.

Goro, a five-year old male from the team of Jim Oehlschlaeger, suffered a spinal injury to the neck region as a result of a tangle in the gangline. The accident occurred near Ruby.

Mark, the lead dog of DeeDee Jonrowe's team, died during surgery to repair a stomach ulcer. Mark experienced problems outside of Elim and was flown from White Mountain to Anchorage, where he died during exploratory surgery.