Attacked Musher Finishes 3rd in Iditarod

A 'bittersweet' ending for Aliy Zirkle, as Dallas Seavey takes 1st again
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 15, 2016 1:44 PM CDT
Attacked Musher Finishes 3rd in Iditarod
In this March 16, 2015 file photo, Aliy Zirkle arrives at the Koyuk, Alaska, checkpoint during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.   (Loren Holmes/Alaska Dispatch News via AP)

Musher Aliy Zirkle has completed a bittersweet Iditarod. Zirkle finished third in this year's race Tuesday morning, bringing her team of 13 dogs down Nome's Front Street through a boisterous crowd chanting her name. It's Zirkle's fifth top five finish in the last five years. But this race will always be known for separate attacks on Zirkle and four-time champion Jeff King by a man on a snowmobile. The man has said he was drunk when it happened, and he faces charges in state court. The attack killed one of King's dogs, and left several others injured. King was running in 10th place Tuesday, the AP reports.

Dallas Seavey won the Iditarod early Tuesday morning, crossing the finish line in record time: 8 days, 11 hours, 20 minutes, 16 seconds. It's his third straight win and fourth in the last five years. The 29-year-old reached Nome, Alaska, about 45 minutes ahead of his father, Mitch Seavey, who finished second to his son for the second straight year. Mitch Seavey has won the Iditarod in 2004 and 2013. The AP reports that Dallas Seavey won this year with just six dogs (he started the nearly 1,000-mile race with 16, but lost some along the way). No other musher this year has fewer dogs; most others were still running with 10 or more. (More Iditarod stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X