This year’s race is “definitely the craziest Iditarod I’ve ever run,” Hans Gatt said under the Burled Arch – Nome’s Iditarod finish line – on Tuesday night.
After ample amounts of wind and glare ice on the trail over Golovin Bay, a run that Gatt says “doesn’t get much worse,” he was happy to be in Nome – and surrounded by cheering supporters and race fans, no less. The Canadian musher finished in 9th place.
Hear our live broadcast of Hans Gatt’s arrival into Nome, finishing Iditarod 2014:
Finishing in 10th place in Iditarod 2014 on Tuesday night, Nome-raised musher Aaron Burmeister’s arrival seemed not only to be a homecoming but, also, a triumph.
After his substantial challenges on this year’s Iditarod trail – the most prominent of which was a triple tear in Burmeister’s right knee – the musher’s Nome finish, just past sunset, was understandably emotional both for Burmeister himself and for the family, supporters, and race fans who gathered, in large numbers, to see him.
“It’s just incredible to be back home again; this was one trip that I never thought was going to end. It was one thing after another, and full of challenges… I am really happy to be back in Nome.”
Nome, seemingly, was happy to have him back, too – and the warm reception was certainly prompted, at least in part, by Burmeister’s amazingly resilient spirit in the face of his serious injury. Echoing the same message the musher told KNOM in the Cripple and Kaltag checkpoints this year, Burmeister said:
There were so many times throughout this race that it would have been really easy to get on an airplane and call it a day, but that’s not what we do this for, that’s not what I live for or stand for, and when we start something, we’re going to finish it. We certainly had our share of challenges on this one, but there was never a doubt that we were going to make it to the finish line.
Hear Aaron Burmeister finish in 10th place in Nome Tuesday night:
