Holmes pumped his fist as he ran alongside his sled with a headlamp beaming from his forehead, as he and his 10-dog team finished the 1,128-mile (1,815-kilometer) race across the Alaska wilderness in the Gold Rush town of Nome. The distance for this year's running was the longest in the Iditarod's 53-year history.

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

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Jessie Holmes, a former reality television star, won the longest-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Friday, celebrating with fist pumps to a cheering crowd and posing for photos with his two floral wreath-adorned head teammates, Hercules and Polar.

Jessie Holmes, a former reality television star on “Life Below Zero,” won the longest-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race early Friday morning, crossing under the burled arch in Nome, Alaska, around 2:55 a.m.

Former reality star Jessie Holmes, who appeared on Life Below Zero, is the winner of the longest-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Holmes began the race on March 3, according to