Compiled by Outside Online

March 12, 2002 Martin Buser won Alaska's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race for the fourth time Tuesday morning, setting a new race speed record and becoming the first musher ever to complete the grueling 1,100-mile-long race in eight days.

Buser, 43, of Big Lake, crossed the finish line in Nome at 8:46 A.M., eight days, 22 hours, and 46 minutes after departing the start in Wasilla.

"It feels pretty good," Buser was quoted as saying by the Associated Press as he approached the finish. "It's going to be exciting to hold that record for a while."

Up-and-comer Ramy Brooks, of Healy, checked into Nome just over two hours after Buser, finishing in nine days and 49 minutes. The 33-year-old's previous highest finish was in 2000, when he took fourth place.

According to the AP, clear weather and ideal trail conditions helped Buser best the previous race record of nine days and 58 minutes, set by four-time champion Doug Swingley in the 2000 race. Swingley, of Lincoln, Montana, became the first non-Alaskan to win the Iditarod in 1995 and entered this year's contest as the race favorite, having captured the last three Iditarods (see "Dog is My Copilot," Outside magazine, March 2001). But he shocked the mushing world last Tuesday, announcing three days into the race that he was retiring from competitive dog sledding and calling the 2002 Iditarod his "victory lap." As of midday Tuesday, Swingley was in 41st place, just out of the Nulato checkpoint.

For complete race standings, log on to the Iditarod Web site at www.iditarod.com.