Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race competed in the Iditarod races, and in 1992 Martin Buser—a Swiss resident of Alaska since 1979—was the first foreigner to win the race. Buser became a naturalized U.S. citizen in a ceremony under the Burled Arch in Nome following the 2002 race. In 2003, Norwegian Robert Sørlie became the first non-resident of the United States to win the race. Winning ceremonies included a giant decorated cupcake with sugar coated huskeys on top. In 2007 Lance Mackey became the first musher to win both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod in the same year; a feat he repeated in 2008. Mackey
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race arch, each musher passes down Front Street and down the fenced-off end stretch. The city's fire siren is sounded as each musher hits the 2-mile mark before the finish line. While the winner of the first race in 1973 completed the competition in just over 20 days, preparation of the trail in advance of the dog sled teams and improvements in dog training have dropped the winning time to under 10 days in every race since 1996. An awards banquet is held the Sunday after the winner's arrival. Brass belt buckles and special patches are given to everyone who completes