NOME - There is big history and there is temporary history. Tuesday, mushing the final miles of the 28th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Doug Swingley tried to write history that would stand forever. Over the last 77 miles from White Mountain, Swingley wanted to squeeze one more thing from a race he dominated. He sought to become the first musher to run an eight-day Iditarod. "It would have been a milestone," said Swingley. He almost made it. Crossing under the new finish arch on Front Street just before 11 a.m., Swingley completed a record run from Anchorage to Nome in 9 days, 58 minutes and 6 seconds. He broke three records he already held, but just missed the barrier-breaking mark. In capturing his third Iditarod crown, Swingley, 46, of Lincoln, Mont., broke his old record of 9 days, 2 hours, 42 minutes, 19 seconds, set in 1995. "The record was never a factor," said Swingley. "I already had it." He broke his own record of oldest champion, set last year, and he remained the only musher from outside of Alaska to win The Last Great Race. Those records can be matched. So, leading by five hours over second-place finisher Paul Gebhardt of Kasiloff and with the $60,000 first prize nearly banked, Swingley chased Iditarod immortality. However, buffeted by high winds near Solomon and slowed by a sugary, snow-covered trail and temperatures in the 20s, Swingley recognized his 11 dogs couldn't beat the clock. So he took it easy the last 22 miles from Safety. "I came as slow as I could into town," said Swingley. "I was just lollygagging along. I had the speed, but not the power." That was pretty much the only admission from Swingley this entire race that his altitude-trained team lacked in any regard. Before the race began, Swingley was so confident he seemed like the second coming of Joe Namath guaranteeing his New York Jets would win the Super Bowl. Wearing a fur ruffed yellow-and-purple parka and kicking slowly, Swingley was cheered home by a mob of fans. His girlfriend, Melanie Shirilla, and mother, Joyce Swingley, greeted him under the end-of-the-trail arch. "I'm very proud of him," said mom. Swingley joked that he was bored with red Dodge trucks in his fleet and was happy to see a blue one waiting for him as part of the champion's loot. Swingley was also presented with the first Joe Redington Sr. Trophy, a 95-pound bronze bust, named for the Father of the Iditarod, who died last year. "I can't even lift it," said Swingley. Unlike last year when Swingley won his second title and broke both a sled that could have compromised his chances and some ribs, he faced only one piece of misfortune. Around Nikolai, about 350 miles into the race, some of his dogs caught a virus. "They had some bad discomfort," said Swingley. "It was hard for me to manage them." Both Swingley and the dogs worked through the problem. And after shedding a chase pack that included five-time champ Rick Swenson, three-time champs Jeff King and Martin Buser, plus past Yukon Quest champions Ramy Brooks and Charlie Boulding, the only obstacle left to conquer was Gebhardt, 43, a rising threat who has improved in each of his five Iditarods. Besides taking the biggest chunk of the record $525,000 purse and winning his third truck, Swingley swept the Halfway Award in Cripple, the Gold Coast Award as first musher to Unalakleet, and took the First Musher to the Yukon Award in Ruby. Yet Gebhardt, who set the pace early, hung tight. Cutting rest to keep Swingley in sight, Gebhardt led for the last time out of Nulato, just under 400 miles from Nome. "For about that long," said Gebhardt, indicating about an inch. Gebhardt's final time was 9 days, 6 hours, 4 minutes, 23 seconds, and he collected $52,500. While Swingley stuck to a strict schedule, Gebhardt winged it. "It was keeping my head on straight, making good decisions," he said. "I run off the seat of my pants. From Day One, he knew he was faster." For the last two years, Swingley has been faster than anyone. These are the first back-to-back wins since Susan Butcher won three straight between 1986 and 1988. Joe Runyan, the 1989 champ who interrupted Butcher's run, called Swingley's performance "a pretty amazing accomplishment. He was pretty slow at the end, but the rest of it he was Ricochet Rabbit." Several mushers who have stayed near the front of the Iditarod for years think Swingley will be hard to beat for a couple of years, especially with a promising group of puppies back in Montana. Swingley said he has 70 puppies raring to run. "I can't wait to start harness-breaking them," he said. "It looks like I'll be here for a while. At some point it's got to end, but I don't know when that's going to be." Neither do his competitors. * Daily News sports editor Lew Freedman can be reached at lfreedman@adn.com
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