![Aaron Burmeister crosses Long Lake as he departs from Willow at the start of the 2013 Iditarod. Photo by Josh Edge, APRN - Anchorage.](https://media.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Burmeister-full-team.jpg)
Aaron Burmeister, Lance, Mackey, Aliy Zirkle and 14 others are taking a breather at the Nikolai checkpoint.
Burmeister was the first to arrive, checking in at 8:11 a.m. Tuesday morning, with Mackey and Zirkle trailing less than an hour behind.
No one has departed Nikolai for McGrath yet.