Hundreds cheered as Martin Buser and his sled dogs crossed the finish line in Nome, Alaska, last Tuesday. And what a finish it was! Buser completed the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in record time.
Buser, 44, had won the race three times before. This year, his team completed the frigid journey in eight days, 22 hours and 46 minutes. No one had ever done it in fewer than nine days. "When the dogs finished, they looked great and were so happy," Buser told TFK.
The Iditarod is a challenging 1,151-mile trek between Anchorage and Nome. The yearly race, which was first held in 1973, honors a heroic 1925 trek, when the sled dog Balto helped deliver life-saving medicine to sick children in Nome.
Buser and his team have followed Balto's pawprints into Iditarod history. On Wednesday, the Swiss-born musher became a U.S. citizen—taking his oath at the finish line. Said Buser: "It's almost too good to be true."