Roger Dahl wins Finnmarksløpet 1000

Mr. Finnmarksløpet klarte det. Etter et av hans mest dramatiske Finnmarksløp noen gang, kunne han jublende, lykkelig og dødsliten, krysse mållinjen i Alta sentrum kl. ????? som Norgesmester i langdistanse hundekjøring, åpen klasse.

Finnmarksløpet 2011 has been an incredible race for the retired police man Roger Dahl. He lost his team twice and had to get help from competitors and the spectators to gett he dogs back. On the way to Sirma his dog Høst (Autumn) collapsed and died in his arms. Therefore many different thoughts went through Roger Dahl’s head when he crossed the finish line cheered on by a big amount of spectators.

Last race

Earlier today Roger Dahl told the media that this is the last time he is racing to win. According to Altaposten (the local newspaper) this is something he has thought about for a long time. But he is not done racing in Finnmarksløpet.

- I will participate in more Finnmarksløps,  but this is the last year I mush to win, Dahl saya to the newspaper. Now he is going to breed good sled dog puppies. Maybe also future winners of Finnmarksløpet will come from Roger Dahl’s Canyon Huskies in Alta.

Mr. Finnmarksløpet

Roger Dahl is the musher who has participated in Finnmarksløpet most times. This year’s race was his 25^th. The first few years he mushed German Shepherds but soon switched to polar dogs as most involved in long distance sled dog racing do. Dahl won for the first time in 1992, and again in 2005. He has never been further behind than number 11, and has been on the podium many times. In addition to racing he has been an important person when it comes to the organizing of Finnmarksløpet. It is for a reason he is called Mr. Finnmarksløpet.

Full-time musher

Roger runs the kennel Canon Huskies in the Alta river valley, not far from the world famous Alta River, where he has about 30 dogs. After he retired from his job as a police man he has been a full-time musher. He has promised the super-talent Trine Lyrek that he is not going to race Finnmarksløpet next year, but be her handler instead

Might take it all

Not only does Roger Dahl win this year’s Finnmarksløp 1000 km and become the Norwegian Championship in long distance sled dog racing. He also wins an ATV worth NOK 90 000, as well as NOK 63 000 in money prizes. In addition he wins other prizes. With a fourth place last year and victory this year it looks like he will become best musher altogether in 2010 and 2011. Which means he can win Saltdalshytte – the cabin – worth NOK 500 000,-.

Robert Sørlie looks like he will end up in third place and then gets the same total place as Roger Dahl, but since Roger Dahl beats him with more than the 19 minutes that Sørlie was ahead of him last year, Roger Dahl wins the cabin too.