On the sea ice in Kotzebue, just before dawn on Easter Sunday, musher Jessie Holmes and his team of eight dogs crossed the finish line under a faint aurora.
It was Holmes’ fourth consecutive Kobuk 440 win, and fifth overall.
“The trail conditions were excellent,” said the 44-year-old musher from Brushkana Creek.“You know, the last few years have been pretty slow going and tough going.”
The 400-mile race runs through six Northwest Arctic villages, looping out and back to Kotzebue.
Holmes said that unlike last year — when mushers endured ground storms, whiteout conditions and subzero temperatures — the sun shone and temperatures warmed.
Holmes’ lead was small. Kotzebue musher Kevin Hansen finished about 20 minutes later. The 35-year-old was about 10 miles behind for most of the race. Holmes said it kept him on his toes.
“This is the first time I won this race without taking extra rest in the last four years," Holmes said. “I think that's a real accolade to Kevin. He actually pushed me.”
Hansen — an Iditarod rookie this year and now a seven-time 440 finisher – said this race was his personal best.
“Our team is strong, and we're right there running with Jesse Holmes, who is a two-time Iditarod champ, and so we're feeling pretty good about it,” he said.
It was over six hours before the next musher, Calvin Daugherty, would make it back to Kotzebue for a third place finish. The 23-year-old rookie musher from Sterling and his father, who was also in the race, both ran teams from Iditarod champion Mitch Seavey’s kennel.
Nine mushers finished the race. Two scratched, both at the Selawik checkpoint. Veteran musher Jody Potts-Joseph from Eagle River said her dogs were still recovering from kennel cough. Jessi Downey, another veteran from Willow, said she decided to withdraw because her team wasn’t eating.
The race this year was held in honor of musher Roger Nordlum, a founder and its first champion in 1988. Nordlum was a Vietnam veteran, bush pilot, and gold miner who ran the Iditarod four times.
“He just passed away a few months ago, and was a big part of this race in the beginning,” said Clay Nordlum, Roger’s son. “We're really proud of everything he's done.”
Roger’s granddaughter, 14-year-old Naomi Nordlum, dropped the flag to officially start the race on April 2.
“I'm really grateful that I got to help start the race in honor of him,” Naomi said. “He's a very big role model in all of our lives, and it was just a great thing to do.”
More honors were announced at the mushers banquet after the race. Rookie Jennifer Nelson was the Red Lantern finisher. Race veterinarians picked Kevin Hansen for the Humanitarian Award for exceptional dog care. And the mushers voted on fourth place finisher Kristy Berington to win the Louie Nelson Sr. Sportsmanship Award.
This year the race purse was $67,500. Winner Jessie Holmes earned $14,000 and, like all of the mushers, took home an assortment of handmade items from village checkpoints along the race route.
