Martin Buser maintained his lead in the 2014 Iditarod reaching Nikolai early Tuesday morning several hours ahead of Nicolas Petit. Buser reached the checkpoint about 1:09 a.m. Petit followed at 5:36 a.m.
The leaders were followed by Aliy Zirkle, Sonny Lindner and Hugh Neff. All three were out of Rohn Monday night. Dallas Seavey, who won the race in 2012, had jumped into 7th place, two spots ahead of his father, Mitch, who won last year. Dallas Seavey dropped a dog in Rohn.
Katherine Keith led the field of rookies. She was in 26th place early Tuesday morning and out of Rohn.
Buser set the early pace in 2012 only to lose to Mitch Seavey and Zirkle in the final days.
