March 19, 2001 - The Finish

She did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Karen arrived in Nome with 15 beautiful Siberian Huskies, riding her sled in style (not running, but riding). 

Her time: 14 Days  23 Hrs 53 Min 16 Sec. 

As the final musher to successfully complete the 1000+ mile course to Nome in this year's race, Karen will receive the Red Lantern trophy.

We have no close up pictures of her arrival yet, but I'm sure she was smiling from ear to ear (as the siberians might have been too to see Mark waiting for them).

Hundreds of people spent most of the afternoon checking for her arrival on the Live Nome Webcam. With the way the camera was cycling, all that people got to see was the two lead dogs and then Karen's back.

Stay tuned for stories from the trail...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Dogsled.com:
"Iditarod: Red Lantern
As Karen Ramstead brings in the last team on the trail, she will receive the Red Lantern Award and bring closure to another fine Iditarod race. Stay tuned - We're here till the last musher crosses the burled arches in Nome."
I hope they're ready for the hits on their server...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From NorthernTerritories.com:
"In the early pioneering years of Alaska, dog teams were used to carry freight and mail between the Anchorage, Seward and the interior. Along the way, roadhouses were set up as rest stops and shelter. The mushers made their way across the Alaska wilderness in all types of weather. To help them, a kerosene lamp was hung outside each roadhouse as a beacon. These lamps helped the mushers find the roadhouses, and served as a notice that a musher was out somewhere on the trail. The lamp was left to burn until the musher was safely at his intended destination.

In 1986, to address and continue the tradition, Chevron USA hung a Red Lantern on the burl arch in Nome. The lantern is lit at the beginning of the race every year, and it burns brightly until the last musher crosses the finish line. The last musher across the finish line puts out the lamp, officially signifying that the Iditarod Sled Dog Race has come to a close. This practice has identified the last musher in the race as the Red Lantern musher.