In the kitchen that night, I unveiled my new plan to Mowry.
“I want to put up a sign by the end of the driveway,” I said, nodding toward the glittering memento on our bookshelf. “A sign saying ‘Home of the Red Lantern.’”
“Over my dead body, O’Donoghue.”
Someone shakes my shoulder. “Get up! Get up!” the man says, an Inupiat accent coloring his voice. “You told me to wake you.”
Wind howls outside the steamy-warm cabin. My body is stiff, wooden. I’m so tired I could cry. Where the hell am I?
“It’s time to go,” the man insists. “The next checkpoint isn’t far.”
Another checkpoint? What? That makes no sense. “The race is over,” I cry.
Searching my clothes for proof, I find the buckle and the patch. “See,” I say, showing them to the man. “I already made it to Nome.”
The checker, faceless, shakes his head. “Your dogs are waiting,” he says.
Wind rattles the cabin walls. A strong aroma of coffee tickles my nose. I sigh, not understanding, but accepting. Time to go.
That’s when I awake, drenched in sweat.
For months after the race, the nightmare replays almost nightly. Each time I’m victimized by my own conditioned response: Rainy and the team need me. I can’t let the dogs down.
1991 IDITAROD ORDER OF FINISH
1. Rick Swenson: 12 days, 16 hours, 34 minutes, 39 seconds 2. Martin Buser 12:18:41:49 3. Susan Butcher 12:21:59:03 4. Tim Osmar 12:22:33:33 5. Joe Runyan 12:22:36:30 6. Frank Teasley 13:12:27:57 7. Dee Dee Jonrowe 13:13:44:10 8. Matt Desalarnos 13:13:44:35 9. Rick Mackey 13:13:54:39 10. Bill Cotter 13:13:57:28 11. Kate Persons 13:14:20:59 12. Jeff King 13:14:24:40 13. Jacques Philip 13:15:07:39 14. Jerry Austin 13:17:10:51 15. Michael Madden 13:20:06:26 16. Ketil Reitan 13:21:54:12 17. Lavon Barve 13:22:20:14 18. Peryll Kyzer 14:16:26:26 19. Terry Adkins 14:16:46:51 20. Bill Jack 14:19:38:14 21. Beverly Masek 15:09:03:51 22. Laird Barron 15:10:07:15 23. Joe Garnie 15:11:53:33 24. Rick Armstrong 15:12:24:07 25. Linwood Fielder 15:23:45:15 26. Burt Bomhoff 16:08:48:36 27. Dan MacEachen 16:09:08:46 28. Dave Olesen 16:10:01:52 29. Raymie Redington 16:10:02:23 30. Dave Allen 16:10:25:26 31. Joe Redington Sr. 16:11:56:56 32. Jerry Raychel 16:17:51:17 33. Mark Nordman 16:17:55:38 34. Malcolm Vance 17:09:30:00 35. MacGill Adams 17:10:10:13 36. Nikolai Ettyne 17:10:53:00 37. Alexander Reznyuk 17:11:54:12 38. Tony Shoogukwruk 17:12:34:11 39. Rollin Westrum 17:13:44:00 40. Brian Stafford 17:15:35:48 41. John Suter 17:18:23:31 42. Roger Roberts 17:22:08:00 43. Larry Munoz 17:22:59:52 44. Jim Cantor 18:00:02:00 45. Terry Seaman 18:00:08:35 46. Kazuo Kojima 18:00:29:28 47. Rich Bosela 18:00:50:45 48. Pat Danly 18:02:23:36 49. Dave Breuer 18:04:49:29 50. Chris Converse 18:05:09:50
THE KALTAG “TEN”
51. Sepp Herrman 21:05:59:26
52. Lynda Plettner 21:21:04:06
53. Jon Terhune 22:00:11:04
54. Gunnar Johnson 22:00:57:48
55. Urtha Lenthar 22:01:05:09
56. Tom Daily 22:01:06:50
57. Mark Williams 22:01:06:58
58. Catherine Mormile 21:01:18:28
59. Don Mormile 21:01:35:16
Tom Cooley 22:01:43:43
60. Brian O’Donoghue 22:05:55:55
Scratched:
David Aisenbrey
Nels Anderson
Roy Monk
Gary Moore
John Ace
Sonny Russell
Robin Jacobson
Steve Fossett
Alan Garth
Bill Peele
Barry Lee
Ken Chase
John Barron
Gary Whittemore
Disqualified:
Joe Carpenter
Though Doc isn’t listed in the official race standings, his arrival was dutifully logged in by Nome checker Leo Rasmussen.
IDITAROD’S FIRST AND LAST
Total elapsed time in days, hours, minutes, seconds
