21 of our favorite photos from the 2023 Iditarod in Nome

Twenty-nine mushers completed the race from Willow to Nome.

By Emily Mesner, Loren Holmes
Updated: March 18, 2023 Published: March 18, 2023

Dogs on musher Aaron Peck’s team arrive into Safety, the last checkpoint of the Iditarod Trail, as people cheer for them on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

[Red Lantern winner Jason Mackey arrives in Nome, marking end of 51st Iditarod]

Aaron Peck mushes down Front Street toward the finish of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 in Nome. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Jessie Holmes’ lead dog, Polar, photographed shortly after crossing the finish line in Nome during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

Matt Hall mushes near Fort Davis, about five miles from the finish line, during the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in Nome. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Nicole Borromeo takes a selfie with Cheryl “Ducky” Johnson near the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race finish line in Nome on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. Borromeo and Johnson, from McGrath and Nome, decided to fly from Anchorage where they live to watch the finish once they found out that the top three mushers were Alaska Native. “This is a different level of excitement,” Borromeo said. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

[His childhood dream was to finish the Iditarod. He just did it, and might be having more fun than anyone.]

Mileage markers and notes from friends and family are written on a bag attached to a musher’s sled, photographed at the finish line of the Iditarod on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

Bruiser, one of Richie Diehl’s lead dogs, after his team finished in third place in the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in Nome. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Aaron Peck mushes into the Safety checkpoint, roughly 22 miles from the finish line in Nome, during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

Ryan Redington mushes down Front Street to win the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in Nome, Alaska. Redington, 40, is the grandson of Joe Redington Sr., who helped found the arduous race across Alaska that was first held in 1973 and is known as the “Father of the Iditarod.” (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Ryan Redington poses with his lead dogs Sven, left, and Ghost, after he won the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in Nome. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

[Alaskan Ryan Redington earns first Iditarod win, fulfilling a family dream]

Ryan Redington, left, smiles for a selfie with Kevin Nayokpuk, second from left, after he won the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in Nome. Nayokpuk’s great uncle Herbie Nayokpuk was an Inupiaq musher who competed in many Iditarods, including the first in 1973, and earned the nickname “Shishmaref Cannonball” for his unique mushing style. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Musher Aaron Peck approaches Nome with his dog team as he competes in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

Elke Konetski embraces her partner and Iditarod musher Matt Hall after he crossed the finish line in Nome on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. Hall placed fourth. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

A woman holds a sign for musher Richie Diehl and cheers for him as he approaches the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race finish line in Nome on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. Diehl placed third. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

[Alaska Native mushers sweep Iditarod’s top 3 spots in ‘a good showing for rural Alaska]

Old newspapers hang from the wall of the Safety Roadhouse, the last checkpoint of the Iditarod, on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. The front newspaper highlights mushers who competed in the 2011 Iditarod. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

[Hustling, hot dogs and sanctuary at the last Iditarod checkpoint]

Jessie Royer hugs her lead dogs rest after crossing under the burled arch at the finish line of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 in Nome. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Madelyn Dettwiller, 10, stands near the finish line as she waits for Ryan Redington to arrive into Nome during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. Dettwiller is a musher and plans on running the Junior Iditarod once she is old enough. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

Iditarod champion Ryan Redington, left, and his kennel manager Sarah Keefer carry water to the dog lot on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 in Nome. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

The sun rises over Front Street and the burled arch at the finish of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 in Nome. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Kristy Berington, right, leads her sister Anna Berington as the two mushers complete the final few miles of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Thursday, March 16, 2023 at Fort Davis near Nome. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Emily Mesner

Emily Mesner is a multimedia journalist for the Anchorage Daily News. She previously worked for the National Park Service at Denali National Park and Preserve and the Western Arctic National Parklands in Kotzebue, at the Cordova Times and at the Jackson Citizen Patriot in Jackson, Michigan.

Loren Holmes

Loren Holmes is a staff photojournalist at the Anchorage Daily News. Contact him at loren@adn.com.