NOME, Alaska (AP) — Jessie Holmes, a former reality television star, won the longest-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Friday, celebrating with fist pumps to a cheering crowd and posing for photos with his two floral wreath-adorned head teammates, Hercules and Polar.

Former reality TV star Jessie Holmes has won the longest-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska. As of early Friday, Duluth’s Emily Ford continued to run in 17th place, and was the second-fastest rookie so far.

The Interior Alaska musher won his first Iditarod on his eighth try, arriving in Nome with his dog team early Friday.

Thanks to a lack of snow, this year’s edition of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race needed a new route across the Alaska wilderness. The course change adds more than 100 mile.

After the 2020 race, it took a vintage plane to get Thomas Waerner and his 16 dogs back home to Norway from Alaska at the start of the pandemic.

A dog has died in 37 of the 53 editions of the famous sled dog race, which spans more than 1,000 miles in Alaska.

Holmes had a three-hour lead over his closest competitor, Matt Hall, who said he had stopped trying to catch up.

Ventana was flown to Anchorage, Alaska where a necropsy was conducted and officials discovered that the dog was pregnant. Officials are still trying to determine the cause of death. According to multiple reports, Klein was forced to withdraw from the race on Friday due to Ventana's death.

Jessie Holmes, a former reality television star, won the longest-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Friday, celebrating with fist pumps to a cheering crowd and posing for photos with his two floral wreath-adorned head teammates,