KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Associated Press and APRN
John Baker crossed the finish line first Tuesday in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to reclaim the title of Iditarod champion for an Alaska Native musher.
The 48-year-old Baker, of Kotzebue, steered his dog team down the main drag in Nome to win the 1,150-mile race from Anchorage, and get his name in the record books.
He is the first Alaska Native musher to win the world’s longest sled dog race since Jerry Riley did it in 1976.
Baker also shattered, by exactly three hours, the race record held by four-time champion Martin Buser, who completed the 2002 race in eight days, 22 hours and 46 minutes. Baker completed the race in 8 days, 19 hours and 46 minutes.
He said that beating the record didn’t occur to him until early this morning. He finished third the year Buser set the previous record.
