Aliy Zirkle was the first musher to ride into Nikolai at 9:14 a.m., followed by reigning champion John Baker at 9:36 a.m..
Lance Mackey isn't far behind, making it into the checkpoint just before 10:00 a.m.
Hugh Neff and Ray Redington Jr. round out the top-5 so far.
Mitch Seavey, Jeff King, Paul Gebhardt, Aaron Burmeister and Dallas Seavey have also finished the run to Nikolai.