After much pacing, waiting and watching the clock, the Yukon Quest's third-place musher crossed the finish line late Wednesday night, and was promptly handed a beer.

Veteran musher David Dalton arrived in downtown Whitehorse at 10:44 p.m., with a team of 10 dogs that mosied in real slow, at one point stopping about 100 metres shy of the finish line.

"It was a long run," said Dalton, once he had a moment to catch his breath.

Immediately upon arriving at the finish, he was flanked by race officials, veterinarians and two special well-wishers.

Race winner Lance Mackey handed Dalton a can of Budweiser, and shook his hand, congratulating him on a job well done. Second-place musher Ken Anderson also patted Dalton on the back.

Mackey even offered to help careen Dalton's dog sled out of the finishing area. With Dalton pulling the gangline at the front, Mackey took to the sled.

"Hey, do you know how to drive that thing?" asked Anderson with a chuckle.

"No, man, that's why I'm walking it," replied Mackey, sarcastically.

Dalton continued to take swigs from his congratulatory brew, then answered some questions about what exactly made the run in a long one.

"Probably one mile out of Braeburn we were knee-deep in overflow," he said.

The resourceful musher took two 55-kilogram dog food bags and tied them up around his feet and calves to protect them from the water, a move that allowed him to finish the 160-km run in relative comfort and dryness.

He said much of the 1,600-km journey from Fairbanks was shared with Tagish musher Michele Phillips, who arrived 45 minutes after Dalton did.

"We got along, we joked. She's really nice to travel with," he said.

He said the two spent much time joking, talking about the trail, the Quest overall, and dog care.

"She's a tough girl," he said. "Her and Kelley (Griffin) are gonna win this one of these years."

He said as friendly as their shared camaraderie was, Phillips' presence in effect kicked him into high gear.

"It wasn't supposed to be long runs, it was supposed to be six hours of run, six hours' rest.

"Well, I was pissed off at Michele!" he said with a laugh.

Once she decided to break their shared runs and mush ahead herself, he was motivated to battle it out with her for third place, which carries a $20,000 US purse. He did get some sleep en route, however.

"I nodded off on the sled a few times, so I got a few naps in that way."

After running 17 previous Quests and finishing 13, largely in the top 10, Dalton said his next goal is to beat Frank Turner's record of running 24 Quests.

"Oh, I'll be back next year," he assured listeners.

For the time being, he said there are no more races in store for him this season. Rather, he will continue training his dogs in preparation of tourists who visit his Healy, Alaska kennel, "Dalton Gang Kennels".

"I've got to gear the dogs up for the tourists, you know, because every year those tourists gain weight," he said.

The seasoned Quest runner also had some advice for wannabe Quest mushers.

Other than the mandatory qualifying 200- and 300-mile races for the Quest, he advises staying away from them.

"They're too fast for what you want to do for the Quest; it's a slower pace," he said. "Go out, camp with your dogs, find out what they're capable of. "

Rather than speed out of the finish line to change out of his mushing gear, the 18-time Quest runner hung about, waiting to congratulate Phillips, in a true show of Quest camaraderie.

Or maybe he just wanted to gloat to her, carrying on their mutually competitive and humorous friendship of the 2008 Yukon Quest.