Iditarod 2011: John Baker Wins 39th Running Of Last Great Race On Earth

John Baker became the Western Alaska native to win the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday morning, crossing the finish in Nome shortly before 10 a.m., in record time. Baker ran the 1,000-plus miles from Anchorage to Nome in approximately 8 days, 19 hours, and 46 minutes, breaking Martin Buser’s record set in 2002 (8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes), and ending Lance Mackey’s streak of four consecutive Iditarod victories.

It was thought that there could be a final sprint for the finish, but Baker pulled away and had a snowy Front Street all to himself.

John Baker, the race leader in the 2011 Iditarod, has passed through the Safety checkpoint and is on his way to the finish line in Nome, Alaska, seeking his first ever win in the Last Great Race on Earth. His closest competitor, Ramey Smyth, is 10 miles -- about an hour -- behind Baker (according to GPS readings). The distance from Safety to Nome is just 22 miles, which simply may not leave Smyth enough time to try and catch up.

if he can hang on, Baker will become the first Western Alaskan to win the Iditarod in the race’s 39-year-old history. He’s expected to finish sometime around 1 or 2 p.m. EDT (watch a live-cam of Nome here).

The final sprint for the finish line is underway, with 2011 Iditarod race leader John Baker having pulled out of the White Mountain checkpoint at 12:04 a.m. local time. Ramey Smyth followed 50 minutes later, hoping to track down Baker before the finish line in Nome, roughly 77 miles to the West. But with such a big deficit to make up, does Smyth have a chance? History says yes.

Last year, Smyth made the run from White Mountain to Nome 40 minutes faster than Baker. Moreover, Smyth has won the award for the fastest time from Safety (the last checkpoint before the finish) to Nome. And he’s done it seven times (a record), most recently in 2009.

After mushing more than 1000 miles through the Alaskan wilderness, the 2011 Iditarod will come down to a 77-mile dash between John Baker and Ramey Smyth. Two pair of mushers are sitting in White Mountain, waiting through the checkpoint’s mandatory eight-hour stop. Baker will lead the way to Nome, cleared to leave just after midnight Alaskan time, 51 minutes ahead of Smyth.

If the teams average around 6 mph, like they did coming into White Mountain, the winner will reach Nome sometime Tuesday afternoon (around 5 p.m. EDT). Which doesn’t really leave you enough time to find a way to get to the finish line and celebrate (Lance Mackey’s wife has compared the partying in Nome to Mardi Gras). Besides, with a high of 15 on Tuesday, who wants to do that?

The 2011 Iditarod will come down to a two-man race between John Baker, a 48-year old who finished third in 2009, and Ramey Smyth (35), second runner-up in 2008. The two mushers are currently in White Mountain, waiting through the checkpoint’s mandatory eight-hour stop. When they get back on the trail (Baker can leave at 12:03 a.m. local time, 4:03 on the East Coast), Smyth will have to make up 51-minutes on Baker in the approximately 77 miles between White Mountain and the finish line in Nome.

And if Smyth is going to catch him, he’ll have to be extra quick: thanks to ideal weather conditions, Baker is threatening to set a new Iditarod trail record. Martin Buser currently owns the fastest time, making the run in 2002 in 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and 2 seconds.

The 2011 Iditarod has a new leader: Sebastian Schnuelle was the first musher to arrive at the Grayling, reaching the small town (pop. 194) on the Yukon River mid-Friday morning local time with 14 dogs. Hans Gatt is the only other team who has joined him so far, with Hugh Neff and John Baker on their way from Anvik.

Martin Buser, the leader entering Friday, currently sits in seventh place, a victim of ... naps.

Trent Herbst, running in his fifth Iditarod, was the first to reach the town of Iditarod in the 2011 running of race, reaching the abandoned gold mining town at 5:29 a.m. local time. Within seven hours, another seven teams had joined him, including heavyweights Martin Buser and Lance Mackey. The town of Iditarod, the 11th checkpoint on the trail, also marks the halfway point, and as a reward for reaching that point first, Herbst was rewarded with $3,000.

Although Herbst is technically atop the musher standings currently, he still has yet to take his mandatory 24-hour layover, something most of the top mushers have already done. As such, it’s Martin Buser who is the race’s real leader, followed by Hugh Neff, and then Lance Mackey, the defending champion seeking his fifth-straight Iditarod win.

The 2011 Iditarod Sled Dog race is officially underway after Sunday’s restart in Willow, Alaska, which kicked off the 39th running of the “Last Great Race on Earth” at 6 p.m. EST. Sunday’s restart, just like the ceremonial start on Saturday, was led by DeeDee Jonrowe, making her 25th straight appearance in the famous sled dog race (and 29th overall).

All 62 teams have left Willow, a small town (a population just over 2,000) roughly 50 miles north of Anchorage, on a sunny and relatively warm Sunday afternoon, with temperatures in the low 30s. The mushers and their 16 dogs will now make their way to the next checkpoint, Yentna Station, some 52 miles to the West.

The 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race officially begins Sunday, when the 62 teams head out from Willow with sights set on being the first to cross the finish line in Nome, roughly 1,100 miles to the northwest. Sunday’s start comes after Saturday’s ceremonial, carnival-like beginning on Saturday in downtown Anchorage, which features large crowds lining 4th Avenue downtown to cheer on the mushers and their 16-dogs, including Lance Mackey, who is seeking his record fifth straight Iditarod win.

Lance Mackey hits the trail from Kyle Hopkins on Vimeo.

The Iditarod is an annual race from Anchorage to Nome, covering around 1,100 miles through the cold, harsh, unforgiving Alaskan wilderness. The race aims to honor Alaska’s pioneering and brave past.

DeeDee Jonrowe, a cancer survivor, three-time runner up in the Iditarod and record holder of the fastest time ever recorded by a woman, will be the first of 62 teams out of the chute Saturday morning. But the focus will be on Lance Mackey, who has won a record four consecutive Iditarods and will be looking to make it five straight in 2011. A fifth win would match Rick Swenson for the most by any musher (Swenson and Martin Buser, a four-time champion who holds the record for the fastest time ever -- 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes -- are also competing in this year’s race).