Iten 'tickled pink' with 10th

One big winner was Ed Iten of Kotzebue. Away from the race since 1992, when he was 14th, Iten turned in a dazzling run to place 10th in 10 days, 14 hours, 2 minutes, early Thursday morning. "I hate to see it over with, I was having so much fun," said Iten, who had to be told he made the top 10. Iten competed with five 2-year-olds and three 3-year-olds. "I'm just tickled pink with them," he said. Iten said being back in the race after such a long absence was interesting. "You weren't a rookie because you kind of knew what was going on," he said, "but you're still amazed by what the front-enders are doing," he said. "I can't drive a dog team like that and keep it under me."

Seavey hangs on for 11th

Mitch Seavey of Seward, hoping for better, took 11th, 24 minutes after Iten. Seavey said he lost four key dogs early to injury and other dogs battled illness. But he made it. "I'm really proud of the ones who finished," said Seavey.

Gebhardt continues move toward top

Kasilof musher Paul Gebhardt had his best Iditarod ever. He placed sixth, just behind Charlie Boulding, despite struggling with a bad back. Gebhardt has steadily moved up the ranks since placing 26th in 1996, his rookie year. In 1997, he was 14th and last year he moved up one spot. Gebhardt, a carpenter, said he threw his back out in December while carrying a bucket of dog food and he was still hurting when the race started in Anchorage. During the race, he took aspirin and, during his 24-hour layover, a prescription painkiller to deal with the pain, he said.

Forget trail markers, find Sonny

Twice this Iditarod, Sonny Lindner of Delta Junction has had to reroute wayward mushers on the trail. Headed toward Kaltag, he came across Willow musher Juan Alcina going the opposite direction. "I think you're going the wrong way," Alcina told Lindner. "I don't think so," Lindner replied, convincing Alcina to turn around. About 90 miles later, on his way into Unalakleet, Lindner crossed paths with Sonny King, a veterinarian from South Carolina. Two teams meeting wouldn't have been a problem except King had left Unalakleet nearly two hours before.