By GB Jones
GB Jones has never finished In First Place in The Iditarod, or any other dog sled race. In 2002, and again in 2004, he completed the 1,100 mile sled dog race near the end of the pack. And he scratched from the 2003 race. This is GB's account of his journey to Nome-proof that winning can occur for those who don't arrive first.
You don't have to win to have a story worth telling, and GB Jones proves that with every mile he logs near the back of the pack. The details about his 2002 and 2004 runs give you a real sense of what those 1,100 miles demand from a person.
The near-last-place finishes in 2002 and 2004 make for a far more gripping read than any champion’s memoir. I read the whole 1,100-mile race tension in one sitting, and his dry take on being at the back of the pack had me laughing out loud. It’s refreshing to follow a real musher, not a legend.
It’s refreshing to read about a musher who’s more focused on the grit of finishing than on winning, and the detail about those two 1,100-mile runs near the back really makes you respect the effort. The writing captures that underdog spirit without over-glamorizing it, though I wish it dug a bit deep