(Nome) — A KMAland native brought home a top 10 finish in the “Mount Everest” of dog-sledding this week.

Farragut native and High School graduate Riley Dyche crossed the finish line in 7th on Wednesday for the 2026 Iditarod, completing the over 1,000-mile trek in Alaska from Anchorage to Nome in 10 days, one hour, 27 minutes, and 30 seconds. Dyche, who has lived in Alaska since April 2012, runs the Dark Horse Racing Kennel and has competed in the endurance race multiple times, including a top-10 finish last year. In a 2022 interview with KMA News following that year’s race, Dyche compared the event to climbing Mount Everest, with dogs and mushers experiencing below-freezing temperatures and consistent wind of 40 or more miles per hour during the multi-day trek.

“It’s kind of like climbing (Mount) Everest, there’s people who are climbing it to just get to the top, and there’s people who are trying to do it for speed records, and it’s the same thing for the Iditarod,” said Dyche. “Over half the field is running it to run it or finish it, and then there’s 20 to 30 that are running it to race it. There’s a big difference in running to finish and running to race.”

But Dyche added it is often a huge accomplishment to even cross the finish line in Nome. While saying he and his father had always been avid outdoorsmen, Dyche says a unique opportunity during his college years in Colorado got him hooked on mushing.

“My first semester of college in Leadville, Colorado I needed a job and heard about a place outside of town that gave mushing tours and that sounded really cool to me,” said Dyche. “I had always liked dogs a lot and it sounded fun so I went and interviewed and ended up working there and I was pretty much hooked right away.”

Dyche also crossed the line with 12 of his 16 dogs that had started the race in Anchorage. You can find the full results of the 54th running of the Iditarod here.

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