Rookie Jessie Terry of Sioux Lookout, Ontario mushed to the arch in 14th place on March 19th at 03:36. The rookie with the best time is honored as Rookie of the Year. Jesse completed the run in 10 days, 23 hours and 36 minutes with 12 dogs in harness. Jesse’s passion for mushing began in childhood when his father purchased a few sled dogs instead of a snowmachine. That’s a decision Joe Redington, Sr. would applaud! Jesse began mushing at the age of 11. His racing career started with sprint races, then moved to mid-distance and now he owns the coveted Iditarod finisher’s belt buckle. He’s also leading the contest for Fastest Time Safety to Nome with a run of 2:56 besting Jeff Deeter’s 2:58.
At the arch, Jesse said he came to Iditarod because he loves running his dogs in new places. He said, “I’m living my dream, how could I not be happy. I’m proud of these dogs having great speed at the end of a 1,000 race.” Jesse said the wind over Topkok was intense. His sled tipped over a few times on the icy side hills. Jesse is a sled builder, working alongside Iditarod and Yukon Quest veteran Hans Gatt.
The Rookie of the Year Award, presented by the Peldiak Family, comes with a beautiful trophy that will be presented to Jesse at the Finisher’s Banquet as well as an additional cash prize of $2,000.
Jesse Terry and Sam Martin were in a close contest for Rookie of the Year over most of the race with Kevin Hansen challenging from behind. Everything was going in Sam’s favor up through Elim. Sam came into Elim at 21:33 with Jesse arriving at 22:53. Jesse cut rest to depart at 03:42 with Sam close behind at 03:44. Jesse’s average speed to White Mountain was 7.13 mph while Sam’s was 6.26 mph. Sam arrived in White Mountain 56 minutes behind Jesse. It would be a race for these two guys to the Nome. With an average speed of 8.64 mph, Jesse reached Safety at 00:31. Sam followed at 03:13 going 6.96 mph. At 7.5 mph Jesse arrived in Nome ahead of Sam who covered the final 22 miles at 6.88 mph…