'It left me in tears': Nova Scotian completes Iditarod in just over 12 days

After 12 of the hardest days of his life, a Nova Scotia man is celebratingcrossingthe finish line inone of the world's most challenging races.

Bradley Farquharfrom Brooklyn in Hants Country, N.S., completed the Iditarod, a1,600-kilometredogsled race across Alaskan tundra,on March 16. He was the 44thof 52 racers to finish.

"It surpassed what Ithought difficult was,"Farquhar, 31, toldCBCNewsfrom his hotel room."This race was the hardest thing I've ever done."

"There's moments during the race that I did not think there was a chance I had and to actually be coming up onto the street and seeing the Canada flag and the Nova Scotia flag at the finish line, gosh, it got emotional pretty dang quick."

Farquharsaid he owes it all to his dogJerry, whostepped upand led the last 640kilometresof the race by himself.

"He's a really strong dog mentally and physically," he said. "I'm so lucky to have him and he's coming home to Nova Scotia to meet everyone."

Farquhar started the race with 14 dogs, but four didn't finish because of sore wrists and shoulders. They were left at checkpoints and treated by volunteers and veterinarians.

'Left me in tears'

The adventurerhas run marathons, climbed mountainsand swum the English Channel, but saidnothing has tested him as much as the Iditarod.

"In fact, it left me in tears with my face buried in a pillow thinking, 'I can't go on, I can't do this,'"Farquharsaid.

Mushers can only take whatfits on theirsleds,and Farquhar said at one point, he wasout in the wilderness alone for29 hours before reaching acheckpoint.

He said therewere moments when he felt like giving up, andhisdogs refused to lead the sled.

"But at that point, Jerry right there stepped up and he started single leading and I couldn't have done it without him," he said.

Farquhar said once home in Nova Scotia, he plans to apply for Amazing Race Canada, and then he'll embark on a new adventure.