Four Valley mushers finish in Iditarod top 10

IDITAROD TRAIL — Willow’s Dallas Seavey was first into Nome to win the 40th Iditarod Tuesday but he wasn’t the only Valley — or Willow — musher to post a strong finish.

In third place was a perennial contender, Willow’s Ramey Smyth and in sixth was Ray Redington Jr., of Knik. Rounding out the Valley’s contingent was DeeDee Jonrowe, also of Willow, who finished in 10th place in this her 30th Iditarod.

As of 10:45 a.m. Thursday, a total of 20 mushers had crossed the finish line, including three more Valley mushers.

Shortly after 9 a.m., Big Lake father and son Rohn and Martin Buser arrived in Nome. Martin, a race veteran and four-time champion, crossed beneath the burled arch one second behind his son, according to race standings.

A little over an hour later, Gerald Sousa, of Talkeetna, arrived in Nome.

Thirty-three mushers were still on the trail, some had yet to reach Shaktoolik, as of Thursday morning, with more than 200 miles left to travel.

The closest to Nome as of Thursday morning was Colleen Robertia of Kasilof. And running just minutes behind her was Lance Mackey of Fairbanks, the musher to most recently notch four wins and the only competitor in race history to win four years in a row.

The rest of the top 10 finishers included Aliy Zirkle, of Two Rivers, who finished second after leading for much of the race. In fourth was Aaron Burmeister of Nome. Peter Kaiser of Bethel finished fifth. Seventh place went to Dallas Seavey’s dad, Mitch Seavey of Seward. Michael Williams Jr., of Akiak, pulled into Nome in eighth place. And right behind him was last year’s champion, John Baker of Kotzebue.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.