Dallas Seavey has pushed his team at the front of Iditarod pack into the old gold mining settlement of Cripple. 400 miles into the race, the three-time champion is joined by seven others out of Ophir, including Jeff King, Norwegian Robert Sorlie, and Noah Burmeister. With 14 dogs in harness, Dallas Seavey wins the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award: $3,000 in gold nuggets.
The next two days will see a shakeup in the standings as mushers leapfrog one another upon completing their 24-hour breaks in different checkpoints. Contenders Brent Sass, Nicolas Petit, and Joar Ulsom have been parked 70 miles behind in Ophir since early this morning, apparently taking their rest there.
In the traditionally popular stop of Takotna, Aliy Zirkle, Pete Kaiser, and Mitch Seavey have been resting and are eligible to leave late tonight. Further back in McGrath is Wade Marrs. And after an early marathon push, Yukon Quest champion Hugh Neff finished his 24-hour layover in Nikolai and is back racing on the trail to Nome.
Zachariah Hughes reports on city & state politics, arts & culture, drugs, and military affairs in Anchorage and South Central Alaska.
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