Hunt puts out the Iditarod Lantern

After years of working as an Iditarod Veterinarian during the race, Timothy Hunt became interested in actually running the race himself. Tim was born in Michigan and lived in Detroit where he attended Michigan State and received his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. In 1993 Tim moved to Marquette, part of the unique Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He wanted to live in Marquette because he felt “I wanted to live where I vacationed”. At the same time Tim moved he began mushing.

As a rookie, Tim expectations were not to win but to accomplish a goal he set out for himself. We are not sure, but it is hard to imagine that goal to be the “Red Lantern” award. Although the Red Lantern award is generally not a goal of a musher, it is never-the-less a very prestigious award. This is an award which exemplifies the spirit and history of dog mushing in Alaska.

During the early days of western contact in Alaska During the days of Alaska sled dog freighting and mail carrying, dog drivers relied on a series of roadhouses between their village destinations. Since these mushers ventured out in all types of weather they decided to use a "flight plan." Word was relay ed ahead that a musher and team were on the trail, and a kerosene lamp was lit and hung outside the roadhouse. It not only helped the dog driver find his destination at night, but more importantly, it signified that a team or teams were somewhere out on the trail. The lamp was not extinguished until the musher safely reached his destination.

Beginning in 1986, Chevron USA continued the tradition by hanging a "Red Lantern," as it is known today, on the burl arch in Nome. Each year the lantern is lit at the beginning of the race and hung on the finish line, not to be extinguished until the very last musher crosses the finish line. Once the musher crosses the line, (s)he then extinguishes the lantern, signifying the official end of the race. Thus, the last musher in a race is called the "Red Lantern" musher.

This year’s coveted Red Lantern goes to Timothy Hunt. He crossed under Nome’s famous burled arches at 4:06:22 am, 3/24/09. Tim finished in 52nd place (67 mushers began the race). After the ceremony under the Burled Arch concluded, the 2009 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ended with the traditional gesture of blowing out the Widow’s Lamp, signifying that all mushers and their teams were safely off the Iditarod Trail. After the breath taking winds that stalled and delayed the finish of this year’s race, I am sure Timothy’s family of wife Mary, stepson Tom and daughter in law Emily, were very happy to see him finish, Red Lantern and all.