Driving carefully on their Ski-Doos to dodge any last-minute peril, Marc McKenna of Anchorage and Dusty VanMeter of Kasilof polished off the fastest Iron Dog in history just after noon Saturday.
Both drivers pumped their fists as they hit the Chena River finish line, secure that a championship worth $50,000 was theirs. And the win on one of the smoothest trails in Iron Dog history was one for the record books: their time of 35 hours, 39 minutes, 56 seconds broke the 2009 race record by a whopping hour and 39 minutes
Both men know the thrill of victory – this was VanMeter's fourth title and McKenna's third – as well as the heartbreak of a near miss.
"You never really know," VanMeter told KTUU at the finish line, alluding to the fact that the duo began Saturday's stretch run with a comfortable 48-minue lead. "You can blink your eye and be upside down in this race. Last year, a hole in the river took us out of the race."
In that race, the duo had a 10-minute lead before the mishap. They crossed the finish line some four hours behind.
His partner agreed.
"People get lucky every now and then," McKenna told KTUU. "A little bit of luck and some skill, and we're here. I'm still in a little bit of shock."
McKenna, who lost a 90-minute lead in 2002 when he broke his machine's jackshaft in Ruby, just 383 miles from the finish line, had praise for his partner and the machines they've ridden the last four years – Ski Doo MXZ X-RCC.
"These are the toughest, most durable machines out there," he said. "It was nice not having to put a wrench on them."
This was only the second time in the 28 Iron Dogs that a Ski-Doo has found the winner's circle. The first time, in 2004, came when VanMeter teamed up with Mark Carr for victory.
In addition to their winners' check, McKenna and VanMeter will collect $6,000 from Ski-Doo, which, no doubt, will use an Iron Dog championship to market the durability of their machines. A competitor, Polaris, leads the pack with 13 Iron Dog Titles, including the last three.
With the victory, VanMeter joined Todd Palin and Mark Carr as drivers with four titles. Dan Zipay has five. Scott Davis and John Faeo are tied with seven, more than anyone in race history.
And even though VanMeter has raced all but one Iron Dog since 1994, he's only 42 years old. Palin, 47, and Davis, 52, are the only drivers on the Iron Dog's top winners list still willing to endure the pounding of a back-breaking 2,000-mile race – and Davis has been hinting about retirement for the better part of a decade.
In a race where drivers sometimes seem to change partners faster than dance partners, a key to victory is finding a durable match. "It's like a marriage," said McKenna, adding that he and VanMeter have a comfortable working relationship. "Despite the pressures out there, we don't get upset, and we take it like it comes," he told KTUU.
The champions only had to look behind them at the finish line to see evidence of that. The two-time defending championship team of Tyler Huntington of Fairbanks and Chris Olds of Eagle River split up this year, finishing second and third respectively with new partners.
Huntington and Tre West of Anchorage were some 44 minutes behind the winners. Olds and Mike Morgan of Nome took third, more than an hour behind.
Tyson Johnson of Wasilla and rookie Chad Gueco were fourth and the Tanana tandem of Arnold Marks Jr. and rookie Archie Agnes finished fifth.
Contact Mike Campbell at mcampbell(at)alaskadispatch.com