Iditarod leader heads into final leg
- Details
- Created on Tuesday, 13 March 2012 17:27
- Written by Dena Rosenberry
Dallas Seavey poles and kicks on the trail before reaching Elim, Alaska, during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 12, 2012. Marc Lester, Anchorage Daily News/AP Photo
NOME, Alaska — Dallas Seavey has started the last leg of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Seavey was the first musher to complete a mandatory eight-hour layover in the community of White Mountain.
He left the checkpoint at 8:22 a.m. Alaska time Tuesday for the sprint to Nome, 77 miles away. Race officials are expecting the winner into Nome about 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Alaska time (7-9 p.m. local).
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Seavey arrived at White Mountain very early Tuesday, and Aliy Zirkle got to the checkpoint about one hour and 15 minutes later.
Zirkle's team is moving faster than Seavey's but she is running out of time to catch him.
Coloradans Tom Thurston and Bill Pinkham were running in 40th and 43rd place Tuesday morning. They had reached the Unalakleet checkpoint. Coloradan Lachlan Clarke scratched on Sunday.
Rounding out the race leaders, Ramey Smyth, Aaron Burmeister and Peter Kaiser were all into the White Mountain checkpoint.
Sixty-six teams began the nearly 1,000-mile race on March 4. Fifty-seven teams remain.
