IDITAROD SLED DOG RACE : Buser Finishes in Record Time

A Swiss-born musher who sings to his dogs won the 1,159-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in record time Wednesday.

With sirens blaring and spectators cheering, Martin Buser stopped his sled beneath a wooden arch on Front Street that marks the end of the “Last Great Race on Earth” in this Gold Rush town of 4,000 on the Bering Sea coast.

His 13 dogs’ tails were wagging and only one was lying down during a series of interviews and honors.

Buser (pronounced boo-zer) clocked in at 4:17 a.m., some 10 hours ahead of his nearest rivals. His elapsed time of 10 days 19 hours 17 minutes slashed about six hours off the 1990 record set by four-time winner Susan Butcher.

His closest competitors were Butcher of Manley and Tim Osmar of Clam Gulch. DeeDee Jonrowe and last year’s winner Rick Swenson were about 1 1/2 hours behind them.

Buser, 33, won the $50,000 first prize and a pickup truck valued at about $25,000.

“It (his team) just kept getting stronger and stronger,” he said. “I was just the lucky guy who was driving.”

Buser has a reputation for being uncommonly good to his dogs--even singing to them.

That relationship comes at a time when sled dog races are coming under increasing scrutiny by the Humane Society of the United States and other animal action groups.

Race rules were changed this year to incorporate longer breaks and ensure the animals’ comfort. Straw bedding was required at every rest stop, for example.

One dog was reported to have died this year and that came 149 miles into the race. Veterinarians who performed a post-mortem said the dog died of a heart ailment that could not have been detected before the race. Humane Society officials disputed the claim that the ailment couldn’t have been detected.