NOME -- Four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser arrived on Front Street just after 2:30 Thursday morning. But his thoughts were mainly in Seattle, where his son Nikolai has been recovering from injuries suffered in a serious January car crash.
The elder Buser took more than 10 days to complete the 2016 Iditarod. He finished in 37th place. Previously, his worst finish happened in 1986, when he reached Nome in 25th place.
Having endured pneumonia and a pulled hamstring outside of Old Woman on the trail from Kaltag to Unalakleet, Buser called this race as a "camping trip" as a couple dozen of his fans listened under the burled arch.
"I call it a sympathy race. I knew I was going to be feeling the pain for my son, so I added to some of the excitement."
Buser plans to soon catch a flight to Seattle, where he'll be reunited with his family.