Defending champion Lance Mackey won the Iditarod sled dog race Wednesday, completing the gruelling 1,850-kilometre trek across Alaska in less than 9½ days.

Lance Mackey sits with one of his dogs, Handsome, after winning the Iditarod.
(Al Grillo/Associated Press)

Mackey raised his arms in the air and yelled, "Yeah, baby!" as he crossed the finish line in Nome at 2:46 a.m. local time.  

Hundreds of people cheered and clapped as he arrived, his 11 dogs casually crossing the line, unfazed by the crowds.

Family members embraced the 37-year-old throat cancer survivor, who reached down and rubbed the heads of his dogs.

"I'm not much to brag very often, but damn, I'm going to this time," said Mackey. "I don't know exactly how to explain it. I'm just blessed with an incredible dog team."

He received congratulatory phone calls from his father, Dick Mackey, a former Iditarod champion, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Palin told Mackey: "You're a hero, and truly an inspiration to all of us."

For much of the race, Mackey tussled for the lead with four-time winner Jeff King.

He also struggled with dogs stricken with diarrhea and slowed by unseasonably warm weather that marked much of the trail.

Twelve mushers scratched since the start of the Iditarod and one withdrew. The latest out of the race was 43-year-old Steve Madsen of Cougar, Wash., who scratched Tuesday in Galena, citing concern for the health of his 11-dog team.

Two dogs died in this year's race, including a three-year-old female struck by a snowmobile.

Teams compete for a share of an $875,000 US purse paid out to the top 30 finishers in Nome. Mackey gets $69,000 and a new truck worth $45,000 for winning.

In its 36th running, the Iditarod commemorates a run by sled dogs in 1925 to deliver lifesaving diphtheria serum to Nome.

The modern route spans the distance between Anchorage and Nome. The dog teams cross frozen rivers, woods, two mountain ranges and the dangerous sea ice along the Bering Sea shore.

With files from the Associated Press