A quick check of the Official Iditarod site shows that Dallas Seavey has arrived in Nome and is the winner of the 2015 race. Mitch Seavey is not far behind.

There has been one, just one, photo finish to the Iditarod, and it happened in 1978 with Dick Mackey and Rick Swenson. It is still talked about today. One Second to Glory: the Alaska Adventures of Iditarod Champion Dick Mackey, by Lew Freedman is the story of that race and much more. It is a biography of Mackey, from his childhood in New Hampshire to helping in the early years of the Iditarod, to establishing Coldfoot, a truck stop way up above the Arctic Circle. Like many Alaskans, he is a bush pilot, tour guide and a hunter. And, like a few other Iditarod veterans, he is the father of the next generation of Iditarod (and other races) mushers.

Lew Freedman gathered more stories from mushers in More Iditarod Classics: Tales of the Trail Told by the Men & Women Who Race Across Alaska. Once again the illustrations are by Jon Van Zyle. Just as good as the original, I enjoyed these stories of those who return year after to year to run across Alaska in the cold and the dark!

Gary Paulsen writes great books about running the Iditarod and Woodsong is no exception. Although written for the teenage reader, adults should enjoy it, too. The descriptions of the cold are, well, chilling. (Sorry!) While there is much humor, he never makes light of the event, it's hard work. Even so, at the end, he'll admit .... he'd be back to do it again.

A nice companion to the stories in the Iditarod Classics books is Iditarod: the Great Race to Nome, text by Bill Sherwonit, photography by Jeff Schultz. It's the history of the race that honors the great serum run into Nome, from the humble beginnings to the organized, professional race it is today. Wonderful pictures! I loved seeing the dogs used to haul the mail and water in the 'old days'.

Reading Hermit With Dog