Sigrid Ekran of Norway was being called “the perfect musher” after she outclassed all her competitors in last week’s grueling 1,100-kilometer dogsled race known as Finnmarksløpet.
It’s billed as the longest dogsled race in Europe and only for “the toughest of the tough.” Ekran was first to cross the finish line in Alta, back where the race began on March 7, after nearly six days on the windswept Arctic tundra of Finnmark in Northern Norway.
“Some of the participants look quite exhausted when they finish, but not Sigrid,” Trond Andersen of the race’s organizing committee told state broadcaster NRK. She was smiling from ear to ear and immediately began to hug her dogs, put the victory wreath around the neck of their lead and give them plenty of treats.
She had also defended her World Champion title and became the first to win the Finnmark Race two years in a row since 2003. It took her six days, three hours and 21 minutes to sled from Alta to Kirkenes and back again.
newsinenglish.no staff
