Sights and sounds: Relive Ryan Redington’s historic Iditarod 51 victory

NOME, Alaska (KTUU) - Go inside the chute to relive all of the action as it happened, when Ryan Redington became the first in his famous family to win the Iditarod.

Ryan Redington’s grandfather, Joe Redington Sr., is known as the “Father of the Iditarod” after helping start the race, and now his grandson Ryan will be known as a champion after he became the first Redington to cross under the famous Burled Arch in Nome in first place.

“It means everything to bring that trophy home and it’s been a goal of mine since a very small child to win the Iditarod, and I can’t believe that it finally happened,” Redington said. “It took a lot of work, took a lot of patience ... we failed quite a few times but we kept our head up high and stuck with the dream.”

For years, Redington said that his main goal was to win the bronze statue of his grandpa and now, he finally has the hardware.

Redington’s good fortune came even before the race started when he says he received a fortune cookie with a message telling him that #5 would be his lucky number. In a turn of fate, Redington randomly drew bib #5 at the musher’s banquet.

It wasn’t all easy for Redington, but he said he learned a few tricks from his 15 previous runs down the trail. This time, he had a different aura around him and it showed when he made some big moves toward the end of the race that helped him pull away from 2019 race champion Pete Kaiser.

“I had to make my move out of Elim and make that long run out to White Mountain because I thought that was one of my only chances to beat him,” Redington said. “He had a lot of speed left in his team even though we were outrunning him.”

After crossing under the Burled Arch, his energy was infectious as he couldn’t stop smiling after accomplishing a goal that has been around his family for generations.

Copyright 2023 KTUU. All rights reserved.