Iditarod Day 5: Leaders head towards Ruby

March 11, 2010

by Andrew Hinkelman
Thursday, March 11, 2010

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race reaches the halfway point Thursday.

Four-time champion Jeff King arrived in Cripple Thursday afternoon to rejoin the lead pack. He moved on at 5:21 p.m., after just about five hours of rest, to re-take the lead.

King, who completed his mandatory 24-hour layover in Takotna, arrived at the Iditarod's halfway point at 12:10 p.m. Thursday. A group of six mushers, led by Dallas Seavey, was there to greet him as they enjoy their 24-hour layovers.

Three-time defending champion Lance Mackey and Hugh Neff took to the trail just about 45 minutes after King.

By midnight, the top 11 mushers had left Cripple. Mitch Seavey headed out in third place, leaving at 7:09 p.m.

Aliy Zirkle and Sebastian Schnuelle left just minutes apart, at 8:11 and 8:13 p.m.

Sonny Lindner, Sven Haltmann, Hans Gatt and Ken Anderson all left Cripple within the 9:00 hour, and Rick Swenson hit the trail around 11:30 p.m.

King had the fastest team into Cripple, but Mackey has won the last three races thanks in part to his ability to rest less than the competition.

Earlier in the day Dallas Seavey, the son of 2004 Iditarod champion Mitch, led the way into Cripple despite John Baker's sizeable head start out of Ophir.

Seavey won $3,000 in gold nuggets for being the first into the abandoned mining town, arriving at 1:26 a.m., an impressive feat for the 23-year-old -- his birthday was last week -- who holds the record for the youngest person to ever compete in The Last Great Race when he finished 51st in 2005. Seavey rose to 41st in 2007 and was a very strong sixth last year.

Baker, who apparently stopped on the trail for an extended period of time to rest or deal with a problem, checked in at 1:37 a.m. Martin Buser arrived at 5:03 a.m.

Bruce Linton joined the trio at 7:39 a.m. followed by rookie Michelle Phillips, who is continuing her strong showing, at 9:49 a.m. Robert Nelson arrived at 10:13 a.m.

Also Thursday, Karen Ramstead scratched in McGrath for personal reasons. The 45-year-old musher from Perryville, Alberta had 14 dogs still on her team when she made the decision at 8 p.m. She has run the Iditarod eight times before.

Contact Andrew Hinkelman at ahinkelman@ktuu.com and follow @KTUUSports on Twitter.

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