Seavey wins Jr. Iditarod after moose attack

Conway Seavey at the finish of the JrT in January.
Seavey just won his first Junior Iditarod title.

Conway Seavey can breathe easy now that the monkey of last year is off his back. Last year Seavey lost what many believed would be his first Jr. Iditarod win when he and another prominent Jr. Musher took the wrong trail just miles from the finish line. This year, Seavey came charging into the Willow Lake finish line with Ben Lyons on his heels in what is being called one of the closest finishes in history of the race.

It almost didn't happen, however, as both Seavey and Lyons - who were nearly neck and neck for the entire race - had a run in with a moose while on the trail this afternoon. Seavey's brother shared the information over facebook, making sure to share that they were shaken up but that teams and mushers were ok. There was concern that Seavey may be disqualified for his contacting his family and not the race marshal - Seavey wanted to let race officials know that the moose was still on the trail and to warn other teams. Mushers are to report to the race officials first, however Seavey reportedly tried to contact officials but no one answered his calls, so he called his father to try to get in touch that way.

Lyons was just twenty feet behind Seavey when the boys crossed the finishline. Lyons also runs with a team of Seavey dogs.