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

Former reality TV star Jessie Holmes won the 53rd Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Friday, March 14, ending a run that was as commanding as the race was long.

NOME — Jessie Holmes, a 43-year-old Alabamian who came to Alaska more than 20 years ago, has earned his first win in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Holmes crossed under the burled arch in Nome just before 3 a.m. Friday with 10 dogs on the line, completing his journey in a preliminary time of 10 days, 14 hours, 55 minutes and 41 seconds.

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

Former reality star Jessie Holmes, who appeared on 'Life Below Zero' until 2023, won his first ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Friday, March 14.

Musher Jessie Holmes has won the longest-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Bundled-up well wishers lined a street along the Bering Sea coastline in the early morning darkness Friday, cheering him across the finish line in the Gold Rush town of Nome.

The Iditarod went Hollywood in its 53rd year, and it made for a competition all the more memorable. The Great American Dog Sled Race proved rather time-consuming, with a lack of snow forcing organizers to change the event's usual route.