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Defending champion takes lead in Iditarod

Lachlan Clark of Buena Vista, Colorado, drives his team around Finger Lake as he approaches the Finger Lake, Alaska, checkpoint of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Monday. PHOTO: AP

Defending champion Lance Mackey was the first musher to leave the Nikolai checkpoint and took the lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday

Mackey, who last year became the first to record consecutive wins in the 1,600km Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race and the even longer Iditarod, rested his team for nearly five hours before getting back on the trail.

Norway's Kjetil Backen was the first musher to reach the Nikolai checkpoint, checking in at 10:39am with 15 dogs. Backen coasted into the checkpoint, 645km into the race. Told he was in the lead, he said, "I can see that."

Backen told onlookers that the going was relatively rough on the frozen Kuskokwim River.

"I fall over but it's all right," he said. "No problem."

Veteran Gerry Willomitzer was second in to Nikolai, population 109, the first of many Native villages along the trail to Nome. Willomitzer, a veteran in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, clocked in at 11:17am with 14 dogs.

Last year's runner-up, Paul Gebhardt, was next, arriving at 11:33am with all 16 dogs. He was followed three minutes later by defending champion Lance Mackey with 15 dogs.

Ten minutes behind Mackey was four-time winner Jeff King with all 16 dogs.

Less than an hour later, three more mushers were in. Three-time Yukon Quest winner Hans Gatt beat Hugh Neff by a minute. Next came 2004 Iditarod winner Mitch Seavey.

Rick Swenson -- the only five-time Iditarod winner -- arrived at 1:13pm with a full team.

Approaching Nikolai was four-time winner Martin Buser.

Mushers will next head west to McGrath, a Kuskokwim River community of 400 in Alaska's interior. The 87km stretch is mostly flat, passing through stands of spruce and alders, as well as the river itself. It's a fairly easy run if the weather cooperates.

But race organizers said unusually high temperatures along the early stretch of the trail are the main concern in the Iditarod so far.

Race spokesman Chas St. George said some areas were reporting temperatures around 1oC to 2oC, which "is too hot for the dogs to run in." A stretch between the checkpoint at Rainy Pass and Nikolai reported a high of 7oC, the National Weather Service said.

St. George said last year about this time temperatures were around minus 18oC in this part of the trail.

At the same time, teams are dealing with heavy snow all along the trail.

"But there are no blizzard conditions," St. George said, "Everybody's moving."

About 20 dogs have been dropped so far, but there are no serious casualties, St. George said.

He said the numbers were tapering off.

"Usually in the first third of the race, mushers expect to drop a lot of dogs. This is an area for a lot of opportunities for sprains or other injuries."

Two mushers scratched on Tuesday. Tom Roig dropped out, citing concern for his health and the health of his team. Joe Garnie also quit, citing health issues with his dog team. A record field of 93 mushers remains in the running.

Until mushers begin taking a mandatory 24-hour layover and two eight-hour rests, the race is fluid.

In its 36th running, the race commemorates a run by sled dogs in 1925 to deliver lifesaving diphtheria serum to Nome.

The modern-day Iditarod trail crosses frozen rivers, dense woods and two mountain ranges, then goes along the dangerous sea ice up the Bering Sea shore to the finish line under Nome's burled arch. Along the way, mushers can encounter temperatures far below zero, blinding winds and long stretches of frigid overflow.
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