NOME, Alaska - Three legends of the Iditarod trail finished yet another race on Wednesday: one vows to return to championship contention, one lamented mistakes that took him out of this year’s running and one wasn’t ready to commit to a record 36th start.

Four-time champion Lance Mackey finished with a smile — but only seven dogs — at 8:55 a.m. He placed an uncustomary 16th and called the race an “eye-opener” but vowed to return to prominence.

“I’ll be back, no doubt about it,” Mackey said.

Mackey suffered injuries and sickness to several dogs in the first third of the race that thwarted his chances — though he hung on gamely before dropping back with a long break at Anvik on the Yukon River.

“I’ve been on a training trip since Nikolai with plans for the next year or two,” Mackey said, adding that he discovered a new leader in Wilson, who starred often in single lead.

Mackey knew his record streak of wins would be broken sometime, and said he’s not disappointed with his placing.

“I think anybody in the top 20 of the Iditarod should be proud,” he said.

Martin Buser of Big Lake was next at 4:03 p.m., in 18th place. He blazed the trail to Ophir (Mile 328) on record pace before encountering trouble of his own. He blamed himself — not for starting with such a fast pace, but for being careless with his huskies’ feet.

“The speed is not the problem,” said Buser, who has placed first in four of his 28 Iditarod races. “The fact that I ran them in the heat of the day without booties and then the feet got infected is the problem.”

That forced Buser to gradually fall back in the rankings while he worked to “baby them back to health.”

High risk, high reward could describe Buser’s strategy, which ensured he was one of a handful of contenders.

“If you don’t succeed, you look like a damn fool,” he said. “If you pull it off, you look golden.”

Buser said he was ecstatic for John Baker. The Kotzebue musher shattered Buser’s speed record, which had stood for nine years. While this year’s trail and weather was excellent for the most part, he believes mushers can go even faster on the speedier northern route with a little less wind and a perfect trail.

“I don’t think it’s ever going to be a sub-8 (day) Iditarod though,” Buser said.

Five-time champion Rick Swenson of Two Rivers stopped the clock 20th in 7:52 p.m.

He completed a 33rd race despite a collarbone that he apparently broke in a fall near the Rainy Pass checkpoint about 125 miles into the 936-mile race.

“I could still feel it moving around in there,” said Swenson. “(The pain has) been intermittent. It was the most pain for the first two or three days.”

The hip he had replaced last year is doing fine, however.

The final run from White Mountain on Wednesday provided a challenge, despite the weather again being gloriously sunny and warm in Nome.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen it blow that hard out there by Solomon,” Swenson said.

During a brief interview, the finish line announcer asked if the 60-year-old Swenson will return in 2012. He has only missed one race (1997) since his first in 1976 and collected all but one of his record five wins by 1982.

“No, I’m not committing to that,” Swenson said about yet another run.