NOME, Alaska — Jessie Holmes, a former reality television star, won the longest-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Friday. Holmes was first to the finish line in the Gold Rush town of Nome, on the Bering Sea coast. The race began March 3 in Fairbanks after a lack of snow forced changes to the route and starting point.

The Interior Alaska musher won his first Iditarod on his eighth try, arriving in Nome with his dog team early Friday.

NOME — Jessie Holmes, a 43-year-old Alabamian who came to Alaska more than 20 years ago, has earned his first win in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Holmes crossed under the burled arch in Nome just before 3 a.m. Friday with 10 dogs on the line, completing his journey in a preliminary time of 10 days, 14 hours, 55 minutes and 41 seconds.

As a regular on the reality TV show “Life Below Zero” — which follows subsistence hunters in rural Alaska — Holmes has made a bigger appearance on the statewide mushing scene, having racked up five top-10 Iditarod finishes in seven prior attempts, including two third-place finishes in the past three years.

Holmes had a three-hour lead over his closest competitor, Matt Hall, who said he had stopped trying to catch up.

The veteran musher has maintained a consistent lead over Matt Hall and Paige Drobny for much of the past week.

Jessie Holmes, a former reality television star, won the longest-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Friday, celebrating with fist pumps to a cheering crowd and posing for photos with his two floral wreath-adorned head teammates,

Iditarod was the longest-ever after a lack of snow forced changes to the route and starting point for the world's most famous sled dog race.

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