Happiest musher to reach Nome award goes to Haltmann

Most mushers are grinning ear to ear when they pull up to the burled arch, regardless of their position in the race. But Sven Haltmann was downright pumped when his sharp, energetic team trotted neatly up the finish chute in 36th place Thursday night.

Mushers want their dogs to be crisp right up to the end, and Haltmann was obviously happy with his self-discipline to stick to a conservative schedule instead of busting loose with short rest or super long runs in order to move up in the standings. “The further we went, the better we got,” he said. As a rookie, his mission was to introduce his young team to the race and gain experience. Haltmann, an apprentice of Martin Buser with dogs from the bloodlines of Buser and Jeff King, obviously is a musher to watch in the future.

“We’re just warming up,” he told spectators with a grin. “We’ll be back next year, and the next year, and the next year, and the next year…” As his team was led out of the chute, Haltmann showed some leaping ability, jumping up to slap the beam of the burled arch with the palm of his hand.