Iditarod Ends With 47 Official Finishers

Nome Alaska - (Sunday, March 20th, 2011)The 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race officially ended at 10:45 this morning (Alaska Time) when Wasilla Alaska musher, Ellen Halverson (Bib #26), made her way under the Burled Arch on Front Street in Nome Alaska with 9 dogs on her team. The 50 year old musher made the trek to Nome in 13 days, 19 hours, 45 minutes and 45 seconds. Halverson was awarded the coveted Wells Fargo Red Lantern, presented by Scotty Watkins, Wells Fargo’s Nome Community Banking Manager.  This is Halverson’s second Red Lantern Award.  She was the last musher to arrive in Nome in 2007, her rookie year. She is the only Iditarod musher in race history to win the Red Lantern twice. After the ceremony under the Burled Arch concluded, the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ended with Halverson extinguishing the flame in the Widow’s Lamp, signifying that all mushers and their teams were safely off the Iditarod Trail. All 2010 Iditarod Official Finishers will be present at the Finishers Banquet in Nome Alaska, later today, (Sunday) March 20th.  The banquet gets underway at 3:30 pm at the Nome Recreation Center.