2020 Iditarod Sled Dog Race
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Back in March, Thomas Waerner won the Iditarod on only his second attempt. Since then it's been a battle to leave Alaska and get back to his family in Torpa, Norway. Due to travel restrictions and flight cancellations caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Waerner, along with the 16 dogs that helped him secure the win in the race, has been stranded in Alaska for over two months, The Anchorage Daily News reported. He has been in the state since Feb. 21.

Waerner's wife Guro, his five kids and 35 sled dogs are all in Norway at the family home. Waerner says he missed one child's 10th birthday and misses things like morning coffee with his wife. Guro was in Alaska for the start of the Iditarod but left ahead of schedule because the COVID-19 outbreak was starting to force travel restrictions around the world.

"My wife has been taking care of 35 dogs, the kids, and working as a veterinarian," he said, adding that "'yes dear' will be the answer for everything" once he returns home. 

The current plan is for Waerner and the dogs to fly back to Norway in early June on a "historic" DC-6 plane that is in Alaska and headed for an aviation museum in Sola, Norway. Sola is around 320 miles from Waerner's home in Torpa.

"We are hitchhiking. The plane is going to Norway, and we are going with them. We are so lucky," the 47-year-old said.

Waerner will get tested for COVID-19 before he heads back to Norway. He will also pick up his dogs, who have been staying at a musher's kennel.

"I like Alaska a lot. It's kind of my dream place. But I have a family," he said.

To secure his Iditarod win, he traveled nearly 1,000 miles across the state in only nine days, 10 hours, 37 minutes and 47 seconds. He is the fourth non-American to win the race.

Waerner's first Iditarod was in 2015 when he earned Rookie of the Year after coming in 17th. He won the longest sled dog race in Europe, the 745mi Finnmarkslopet, in 2019.