First a headlamp came into view, then the silhouette of a dog sled, turning the bend off the Yukon River trail and onto the last stretch of the race route.

Spectators at the First Avenue finish line of the Yukon Quest then recognized the musher as he came into view.

"It's Lance!" cried a fan, and cheers erupted across the final race checkpoint in downtown Whitehorse.

Lance Mackey became the first musher to win four Yukon Quest sled-dog races in a row at 1:23 this morning.

Until the moment Mackey's white snow suit came into view, nobody at the finish line knew who to expect.

Trail reports at the Takhini Hot Springs and the bridge over the Takhini River were called in by volunteers who reported Mackey was ahead of rival Ken Anderson by mere minutes.

At the finish line, where about 200 race staff, fans, handlers and media had waited since about 11 p.m., tension was building and speculation circulated about who the race's winner would be.

Joy Brown waited at the finish line with 11 of her girlfriends. The group had travelled up from the lower mainland to visit the Yukon, coinciding their visit with the Quest finish and this weekend's Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous.

"I think it'll be Lance, it seems so close, so we really don't know," she said.

Mackey's wife, Tonya, and Anderson's wife, Gwen Holdman, waited side-by-side at the finish line, joking about how they couldn't wait to sleep and relax. The two families live side-by-side, sharing a property line even, in Fox, Alaska.

"Five minutes!" called a volunteer.

"Who is it?" asked Tonya Mackey.

The volunteer couldn't - or wouldn't - answer. Fans leaned their arms over the finish line barricades, readying their digital cameras to catch a shot of the 2008 Yukon Quest winner.

When a smiling Mackey came into view, cameras flashed as he stopped his sled, took a deep breath and waved.

In true Mackey fashion, he immediately pulled out a bag of meat and walked up and down his sled's gangline offering treats to his excited 11 dogs. He had dropped three throughout the race, which began Feb. 9 in Fairbanks.

Mackey told the crowd he was tired, but happy to have finally arrived in Whitehorse.

"I was hoping to see the lights sooner than I did, that was a long-ass run," he said. Mackey had travelled 100 miles (161km) from the Braeburn Lodge in 11 1/2 hours, with an eager opponent on his tail.

"He's not too far behind," Mackey told race officials. "I think my head's on backwards because I've been looking over my shoulder the last 100 miles."

Aside from watching his back, Mackey said he has been preoccupied with his frozen feet, after taking his dogs through knee-deep overflow 10 hours before arriving at the finish.

This discomfort trumped his realization of what his arrival meant.

"It's all a blur right now," he said.

Mackey acknowledged that he was the first musher in the race's 25-year history to win four in a row.

"It's a pretty special moment," he said. "I find myself doing a lot of firsts these last few years."

Last year, Mackey became the first musher ever to win both the Yukon Quest and Alaska's Iditarod sled-dog race.

"I set my goals pretty high," he said.

This year, he is registered in both the 2008 Iditarod, which will start March 1, and the All-Alaska sweepstakes.

"Not to sound greedy, but I want to win all three," he said.

Of the 11 dogs remaining on his sled, he said he would probably use half of them in the Iditarod, combined with a team picked from the 14 or so sled dogs he has waiting back home at Mackey's Comeback Kennel.

Preparing for the Iditarod, though it is nine days away, was not at the forefront of Mackey's to-do list after crossing the finish line.

"I'm gonna get these frozen boots off, feed these boys, then feed myself and have a few drinks," he said.

As per race rules, Mackey let officials check his sled for mandatory equipment, including snow shoes, an axe, water and food, and returned his race bib, number 11.

Tonya Mackey pet the lead dogs and said she was glad the race had come to an end.

"I'm happy it's over; this is definitely the longest 10 days of the year for us," she said.

The dogs didn't seem to agree. In spite of just running 160 km, they were jumping and barking to keep going.

"Now that's what I'm talking about," said Mackey, as he prepared to move out of the finish line and put the dogs in their kennels to rest.

With a wave and a smile, he took off the sled brakes, stood on the back of his sled, and gave the command his dogs were waiting for.

"Let's go!" and with a whistle, a wave and a thumbs-up, Mackey tore off down First Avenue.

As the first-place finisher, Mackey stands to win a US$35,000 purse. He will receive half of this amount at this Saturday's finish banquet, with the rest being sent to him once his dogs have tested negative in urine-analysis drug tests.

Race rules stipulate the sled dogs must not have any banned substance, with the exception of a few antibiotics and antidiarrheals.