Posted on 03/14/2025 10:20:18 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Jessie Holmes, a former reality television star, won the longest-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Friday, celebrating with fist pumps to a cheering crowd and posing for photos with his two floral wreath-adorned head teammates, Hercules and Polar.
Holmes was first to the finish line in the Gold Rush town of Nome on the Bering Sea coast. The race began March 3 in Fairbanks after a lack of snow forced changes to the route and starting point.
That made the normally 1,000-mile race a staggering 1,129 miles across the Alaska wilderness. Holmes finished in 10 days, 14 hours, 55 minutes, 41 seconds.
"It's hard to put into words, but it's a magical feeling," Holmes said shortly after crossing the finish line. "It's not about this moment now. It's about all those moments along the trail."
He will take home $57,200 for winning the race, along with $4,500 worth of gold nuggets and 25 pounds of fresh salmon for finishing first in earlier stages.
Holmes, who was competing for the eighth time, previously finished in the top 10 five times, including third last year and in 2022. In his first Iditarod, in 2018, his seventh-place finish earned him Rookie of the Year honors.
Matt Hall, who was born in Eagle, a tiny community on the Yukon River in eastern Alaska and began mushing at age 2, finished in second place. His parents owned an expedition company, and he grew up with sled dogs and guiding weeklong trips for clients.
This year's longer distance was grueling, he said after crossing the line three hours after Holmes. "It was too long," Hall said with a laugh.
Born and raised in Alabama, Holmes left at age 18 and worked as a carpenter in Montana...
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...
I’d like to see these athletes with 50 million dollar ad contracts.
Oh, no...Jesse works very hard to train hid do, breed them properly, and make sure they have the best diet possible. It’s a lot of hard work on his part also. I always liked watching him.
his dogs...sigh
Remember when women won 5 years in a row?
The Last Great Race.
This guy is really cool.....missed him on the show but it was clear winning this was his ultimate goal. Definitely a guy who put in the work.
Hit the finish line; just kept going.
Got the dogs 🐕🐶🐕🐕 in the hotel room right now.
I got to witness the start of this race in Fairbanks. It’s a cool deal!
Good stuff. We were in Alaska 2 years ago and did a sled dog experience thing with Ryan Redington, who was the reigning champion at that time, and whose grandfather is the man depicted on the trophy. It was fun, good stuff. A full sled dog team hauled us around half a dozen at a time in this wheeled aluminum cart thing, with Redington mushing. Then we got to pet and hold puppies!
It’s a sign of the times that “former reality tv star” had to be in the headline - as if that’s more significant/important than any other thing he did with his life prior to this race.
I get it, though. Gotta get those clicks on the story.
“his dogs...sigh”
The dogs LOVE this. When I lived in Anchorage, my office window looked out on to one of the training fields. They cannot WAIT to get hooked up and run on the course. They’re so excited.
That made the normally 1,000-mile race a staggering 1,129 miles across the Alaska wilderness.
= = =
1000 miles is staggering.
Adding about 1/8 is not much more.
He was on “Life Below Zero”. I only watch for him, Sue, and Ricko. Not a fan of the rest.
I think I would compete in the shortest ever Iditarod race. We would never even leave the hotel room.
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