Friday, March 18, 2011

For teacher, smiles at Iditarod


By ROBIN SIAS
Express Staff Writer

Trent Herbst

Wood River Valley teacher Trent Herbst finished the 1,150-mile Iditarod dogsled race in Alaska early Thursday morning, placing 25th in the grueling competition.

Herbst, a fourth-grade teacher at the Community School in Sun Valley, crossed the finish line of the race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, at 4:33 a.m. local time Thursday. By finishing in 25th place, it was his best finish in five years of participating in the Iditarod.

With headlamp ablaze and frost on his signature beard, Herbst reached Nome in the dark with a smile on his face. And he was smiling for good reason. Last year, he finished in 48th place. This year, he finished the race in 10 days, 12 hours, 16 minutes and 58 seconds. His average speed was 4.16 mph.

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At one point in the race, Herbst led the pack. Last week, he was the first musher to reach the 13th of 25 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race checkpoints. However, after taking a mandatory 24-hour layover, other racers had moved ahead.

Herbst won the Most Inspirational Musher Award in 2009.

This year, 47 racers were eligible to cross the finish. Many are still racing. An additional 15 teams scratched. Alaska native John Baker won the race.




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