The end of the trail

After spending more than a week together on the trail, the Redington boys — Ryan and Ray — split up at Unalakleet, but not by choice.

Forced to scratch in Ruby because of sick and injured dogs, Ryan, the younger of the two, was waiting for a plane trip back to Anchorage as his brother readied for the run to Shaktoolik late Monday morning.

“It was really a bummer,” Ryan said. “But it was the right decision.”

Though he was looking to improve on last year’s career-best 18th-place finish, Ryan Redington said this year’s tough run will only help to make him a better musher in the future.

“I learned a lot and I think it’ll give me a lot of motivation for the years to come,” he said. “I’m not giving up.”

Ray Redington said his brother’s team suffered some key losses along the way, which can turn a good run into a disaster.

“In all of these teams you’ve probably got about four key dogs when you leave the starting line. When you start losing those four key dogs, that really impacts the race,” Ray said.

Ryan Redington finally got out of Unalakleet Tuesday and returned home to Knik, while his brother finished the race in 18th place, his fifth career run in the top-20.

Willow’s Ramey Smyth used an under-the-radar strategy to become the first Mat-Su musher into Nome, crossing the finish line of the 36th Iditarod just before 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Smyth ran well behind the lead pack until late in the race, turning on the jets over the final 200 miles to finish 19 minutes in front of Ken Anderson of Fairbanks and Big Lake’s Martin Buser, who lost a race to the finish line for fourth place.

Zack Steer of Sheep Mountain also ended up on the wrong end of a footrace, finishing 31 seconds behind Whitehorse musher Sebastian Schnuelle in the battle for 10th place.

Just behind Steer, another Mat-Su musher, Big Lake’s Cim Smyth — Ramey’s brother — clocked the fastest time from Safety to Nome, covering the final 22 miles in 2 hours, 11 minutes to win the Nome Kennel Club’s $500 prize for the quickest trip between the two final checkpoints.

Willow’s DeeDee Jonrowe bounced back from a scratch last year to claim 15th place Wednesday. Jonrowe, who was in the lead halfway through the race, faded a bit down the stretch in warm, slow trail conditions.

“This team is best showcased on a fast trail, and this is not a fast trail,” she said In Unalakleet before heading out early Monday morning.

Jonrowe said her strategy over the final couple hundred miles was to go slow and steady.

“We’re not going to switch up now, they need the rest,” she said.

Jonrowe’s good friend, Wasilla’s Silvia Willis, arrived in Nome just after midnight Thursday to claim 23rd place, improving by three spots over her rookie run last year.

Willow’s Matt Hayashida also got a career-best out of this year’s race, improving one spot over last year by finishing in 28th place in his fourth career finish.

Talkeetna’s Gerald Sousa missed out on the top-30 by one spot, arriving in Nome at 1 p.m. Thursday to complete his sixth Iditarod.

Willow’s Rick Casillo and Scott Smith also narrowly missed out on top-30 finishes, though each posted personal bests, with Casillo arriving in Nome in 32nd place and Smith finishing 34th.

The two friends ran together for much of the race, even stopping to split a pizza in Unalakleet, where both took long rests in what was proving to be a long, difficult race for each.

“I just want to get to Nome,” Smith said Monday, still three days from the finish.

This year was Smith’s fourth race and the third he’s finished, and the part-time carpenter admitted he’s not sure how many runs he has left in him.

“You always think, ‘okay, next year’s gonna be the year to really compete and break the top-20 or top-30 and make a paycheck and try to pay for some of the year,’” he said. “And if you’re in my situation and that doesn’t happen, you just gotta say when’s enough enough.”

Smith, who’s been running dogs for 15 years, said he loves the sled dog lifestyle, but said the year-round nature of the sport begins to take its toll.

“I love running these guys, I love raising them and breeding ‘em and everything that goes along with it. But there’s a lot of the world out there, a lot of things to do and you’ve gotta ask yourself when’s the right time. Before I know it I’ll be an old man and all I’ve done is stand on the back of runners.”

Though not talking retirement, Casillo he’s had his moments of doubt along the trail as well. After arriving in Unalakleet Monday morning, Casillo said the previous night’s run had been one of the most trying of his career — not because of trail conditions, but sleep deprivation.

“Last night was a really bad night for me,” he said. “I couldn’t keep my head on straight.”

After napping along the trail, Casillo said he finally regained his wits. For a while, though, he said things got “a little weird” out on the trail.

“I couldn’t tell you one part of that trail I was on,” he said with a laugh.

Fortunately for Casillo, he had a strong team this year with a good nose for the trail. His best dog, he said, was a surly dog named Yonder, a running machine that “never gets tired.”

“He’s a freak show of a dog. He doesn’t like people, and I’m not even sure he likes me, but he runs,” he said.

Running just behind Smith and Casillo was rookie Rohn Buser of Big Lake. While the veterans in front of him were pondering their Iditarod futures, the 18-year-old son of Martin Buser said his mushing career was already nearly over Monday in Unalakleet.

“This is my only Iditarod,” Buser said.

After running near the front of the pack early in the race, the younger Buser ran into dog problems, with fighting and illness leaving him with just seven dogs as he made the push up the coast.

Despite being one of the more popular mushers at the Unalakleet checkpoint Monday — especially among the town’s young girls — Buser said his future plans don’t include trying to follow in his famous father’s runner tracks.

“It’s definitely not for me,” he said.

Still, Buser said he’s happy he decided to run the race, and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

“I’m really happy that I’m doing it,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of fun, a lot of bummer moments, too. That goes along with it. I’ve learned a lot.”

As of Thursday evening, Buser was still out on the trail, though he was expected to arrive in Nome late Thursday evening. As of the last race update, Buser was running in 37th position, third among rookies in the race.

As of Thursday night, roughly half of the 26 Mat-Su mushers were still left on the trail. Expected to finish Thursday night or Friday morning were Buser and Willow’s Sven Haltmann, who left White Mountain at 1:11 p.m. Thursday. White Mountain, where mushers must take an eight-hour layover, is 77 miles from Nome.

Wasilla’s Kelley Griffin left White Mountain shortly after 9:30 p.m. Thursday night in 45th place.

Four Mat-Su mushers were running close together as the race neared its conclusion Thursday evening. Trapper Creek’s Matt Calore, Talkeetna’s Joe Gans, Willow’s Rick Holt and Wasilla’s Jeff Deeter were all on their way to White Mountain Thursday night, with all likely to finish up somewhere in the top-60 by Friday afternoon.

Further back in the pack, Wasilla’s Sue Allen was out of Shaktoolik and heading for Koyuk in 70th place with a team of Martin Buser’s puppies. Allen said before the race she planned to take things slow, and she’s been running near the rear for the duration.

Also leaving Shaktoolik late Thursday was Wayne Curtis of Wasilla with his team of Siberian huskies. Siberian teams have not fared well in this year’s race, which has seen unseasonably warm temperatures since Willow. Going slow, the entire race, Curtis was in 73rd place Thursday, though he still had 13 dogs in harness.

Just behind Curtis was Richard Savyoski of Palmer, who along with Talkeetna’s Heather Siirtola was in the running for the Red Lantern award. As of Thursday night, Savyoski was running in 76th place, having arrived in Shaktoolik at 5:46 p.m. Thursday. Sirtola arrived in the checkpoint — still 171 miles from Nome — an hour later. As of Thursday, 81 out of the 96 Iditarod entrants were still in the race.

Three Mat-Su mushers — Wasilla’s Peter Bartlett, Willow’s Art Church Jr. and Knik’s G.B. Jones — have scratched. For updates on the race, visit www.iditarod.com

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@

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