THE SIDELINES : Barve 1st Half Iditarod Winner

Lavon Barve of Wasilla, Alaska, won $3,000 in silver ingots and the halfway trophy after arriving at this wilderness checkpoint Thursday night, more than a half-hour ahead of defending champion Joe Runyan in the 18th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Barve, who has finished in the top 10 each of the past four years, checked into Cripple at 10:57 p.m. Runyan, from Nenana, Alaska, arrived at the official halfway checkpoint at 11:38 p.m.

Runyan was followed by three-time winner Susan Butcher of Manley, Alaska; Dee Dee Jonrowe of Willow, Alaska; Robin Jacobson of Squaw Lake, Minn.; Martin Buser of Big Lake, Alaska, and Rick Swenson, the Iditarod’s only four-time champion.

The silver ingots awarded the first musher to reach the halfway point--685 miles from the finish line in Nome--have become something of a jinx. Only once since the race was organized in 1973 has the winner of the halfway money held on to win the race.