Bethel mushers successfully finish 2024 Iditarod

Iditarod musher Jessica Klejka of Bethel/Knik (in center) with her daughter and fans at the restart in Willow, Alaska.

Pete Kaiser of Bethel with his family at the 2024 Iditarod Sled Dog Race finish line in Nome, Alaska. Photos by John Wallace

Congratulations to Pete Kaiser of Bethel and Jessica Klejka of Bethel/Knik for successfully completing the 2024 Iditarod sled dog race from Willow to Nome, Alaska – a distance of approximately 975 miles.

Kaiser finished in 9^th position with a total elapsed time of 9 days, 18 hours, 30 minutes, and 50 seconds. He crossed the burled arch finish line in downtown Nome wearing bib #26 with 8 dogs in harness. He is the 2019 Iditarod champion, this is his fourteenth finish of the Iditarod.

Klejka finished the race in 19^th place, her time was 10 days, 14 hours, 22 minutes, and 52 seconds with 10 dogs. This is Klejka’s third finish of the race, she raced in 2019 as a rookie, coming in 31^st, and raced again in 2020 placing 21^st. 

Josi Thyr of Fairbanks, bib #22, won the Rookie of the Year award. She finished in 15^th place with 10 dogs. Rookie musher Jeff Reid, bib #25, of Two Rivers, Alaska received the Red Lantern Award. He finished on March 16^th, 2024 at 2:22am with 7 dogs.

Four ladies finished in the top 10 Iditarod this year: Paige Drobny of Cantwell, Alaska in 5^th place, Mille Porsild of Denmark in 7^th, Amanda Otto of Victor, Idaho in 8^th, and Jessie Royer of Seeley Lake, Montana in 10^th place.

The 2024 Finishers Banquet took place in Nome on Sunday, March 17^th.

Congratulations to our hometown mushers!