Rep. Matt Claman (D-Anchorage) presented "Mushin' Mortician" Scott Janssen with a legislative citation Thursday, at the Janssen Evergreen Memorial Chapel on E Street.
"The truth? The real heroes were my dogs," Janssen said. "They were the true heroes."
On March 16, Janssen came upon fellow musher and friend Jim Lanier. The 77-year-old Lanier had been separated from his sled and dog team not able to move for almost five hours in temperatures as low as 60 degrees below zero.
Lanier and Janssen had been traveling between the checkpoints of White Mountain and Safety, just 22 miles from the race's finish line in Nome, when conditions took a turn for the worse.
"There was heavy snow and it was blowing," Lanier said. "I probably went a mile."
"I could see half of my team," Janssen said. "Through my headlamp, I could see the trail markers. Then all of the sudden there were no trail markers."
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