At 11.46 AM today Lance Mackey cruised up the main street of Nome as the winner of Iditarod 2008. He spent 9 days, 11 hours and 46 minutes on the road. When he won last year, he was six hours faster.

Kjetil Backen is in a photo finish for the 7th place. He started the last leg as number 8, at 11.17 this morning, and is heading for Nome in a group of three with only 19 minutes dividing himself, Mitch Seavey and Paul Gebhardt. They have no more than two hours up to the podium, but with 123 km left, chances are low for them to reach it.

Kjetil has been among the profiles of Iditarod 2008, and on some of the mid legs he was the front runner. During the last days, he has, however, lagged a bit behind the leader. We expect him to Nome around 18.00 tonight after 9 days and some 21 hours. That will be around seven hours behind his personal best from 2007.

The winner Lance Mackey was no more than an hour ahead of number 2, Jeff King. These two drivers have been eachother's shadow from the very start. For a couple of days this week it looked as if King would overtake Mackey, steadily gaining on him, and coming as close as half an hour. That was when Mackey did a classical Iditarod-move. He did all preparations for a long rest and lay down for a nap. Seeing this, King did the same, but had no more than fallen asleep as Mackey mushed on. His trick earned him an hour that King was unable to match.