2005 Iditarod - March 21

March 21

The Red Lantern in last was Phil Morgan, an Alaska Airlines pilot, and when he crossed the finish line on March 21 at 8:02 pm AKST (March 22, 5:02 UTC), the Widow's Lantern hanging on the burled arch was extinguished, which signalled the end of the race. The Christmas lights and banners were also taken down. He took 15 days, 6 hours, 2 minutes, and 57 seconds and completed the race with 8 dogs, becoming the only musher unable to attend the Finisher's Banquet the night before. Many mushers scratched because of poor conditions, and the Red Lantern signifies "stick-to-itiveness". Morgan is a 737-200 pilot. (pdf)

Trailing the pack, Morgan became the only musher to blizzard en route from White Mountain. Three of his dogs were in heat at the start of the race, and he had to drop his lead dogs at Iditarod. Morgan has been a volunteer with the Iditarod Airforce since 1995. According to Morgan, "we lived through some crazy experiences".

According to Nome Mayor Leo Rasmussen, the race brought a total of USD $23 million in business to the state of Alaska in the 1990s. Nome and other areas in Alaska had a financial slump during the winter due to high fuel prices.