Soon after Haltmann got out of the chute, Rohn Buser, son of four-time champion Martin Buser, drove his team under the burled arch to a big cheer and hugs from both his father and mother, Kathy Chapoton. His older brother Nikolai was there to congratulate him as well.

The younger Buser, 18, was running on a pace that just about matched his father’s through the first 400 miles of the race. He had to drop a few dogs, however, and by the coast he was working with a team of seven; he shortened his runs and lengthened his rests “and got all seven of them here,” he said.

As the beaming family posed for photos at the finish line, Nikolai joked, “I have to admit, I’m jealous.”