Nicolas Petit, the Girdwood musher who finished 10th in the Iditarod last week, will leave Nome with an award that, other than the first-place trophy, is the prize most coveted by mushers.
Petit won the Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award for exemplary dog care at Sunday night's awards banquet in Nome. Petit finished the race with 14 dogs in harness.
Chief veterinarian Stu Nelson Jr. presented Petit with the lead crystal cup that honors the musher who best demonstrates outstanding dog care while remaining competitive in the race. The award is based on specific criteria.
Two of the night's other top awards went to Mackey brothers Lance and Jason.
Jason earned the Mushers Choice award, which honors the race's most inspirational musher, and Lance earned the sportsmanship award. Both awards are decided by fellow mushers.
Jason won his award for helping his brother stay in the race after brutally cold temperatures damaged Lance's hands. Lance won his for rescuing a musher-less dog team that he found on the sea ice near Koyuk.
The team belonged to Anchorage musher Scott Janssen, who told KTVA that he spent hours on the ice before a search-and-rescue team found him and took him to Koyuk, where he said he was treated for hypothermia.
Lance hitched his team and Janssen's team together and drove the 21 dogs into Koyuk.
Three days before all of that happened, Jason gave up running his own race so he could run in tandem with Lance, a four-time champion and cancer survivor. Lance's physical challenges include Reynaud's syndrome, which limits blood circulation in his hands and makes him extra-susceptible to cold.
Last Monday when Lance sorted out a tangle in his team in minus-30 temperatures, his hands were exposed to the cold air for several minutes, leaving them swollen and stinging with pain.
Jason decided to forego his own race ambitions to run with his brother and help him put booties on his dogs and perform other tasks made difficult by Lance's damaged hands. The two men finished together Saturday morning, with Jason in 42nd place and Lance in 43rd place. Two of Lance's dogs died en route to Nome, the first dog deaths on the race trail since 2009.
Not long after Sunday's banquet ended, the race's final big award was presented at the Front Street finish line.
Cindy Abbott mushed a team of 13 dogs across the finish line at 9:19 p.m. to win the Red Lantern Award, given to the race's last-place finisher.
Abbott, a 56-year-old from Irvine, California, has started the Iditarod three times but Sunday marked the first time she has completed the 1,000-mile race.
Other mushers honored on Sunday:
Golden Harness Award for the outstanding lead dog – Reef, a 3-year-old for champion Dallas Seavey.
Golden Clipboard award for outstanding checkpoint – Huslia, a village steeped in sled-dog history that became a first-time checkpoint this year when the race, facing poor trail conditions on the traditional route, moved the start of the race from Willow to Fairbanks.
Herbie Nayokpuk Memorial Award – Aaron Burmeister.
Rookie of the year – Thomas Waerner, who placed 17th in his first Iditarod.
Most improved – Travis Beals.
Fastest time from Safety to Nome – Wade Marrs.
First to Kaltag – Aaron Burmeister.
Gold Coast Award (first to Unalakleet) – Aaron Burmeister.
First to Galena – Aaron Burmeister.
Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award – Aaron Burmeister.
First to the Yukon – Jeff King.
Spirit of Alaska Award (first to Ruby) -- Mitch Seavey.