ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The baton in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is being passed Friday as the previous leaders take a mandatory 24-hour layover -- clearing the trail for mushers who have already taken one.
As of 8:30 a.m. Friday Sebastian Schnuelle, one of the mushers with a completed layover, was leading the race out of Anvik. Several mushers reached the Yukon River checkpoint before him: Hugh Neff claimed a seven-course meal and $3,500 for being first into Anvik at 5:26 a.m., closely followed by a field of five others including four-time champions Lance Mackey and Martin Buser.
Schnuelle, however, left them all behind him, arriving at 7:52 a.m. with 14 dogs and staying for only four minutes. His closest moving competition, Ramey Smyth in eighth place, left Shageluk for Anvik at 5:02 a.m.
For a closer look at the kind of frenetic activity taking place at checkpoints like Anvik, check out our photo gallery from the McGrath checkpoint and watch a video of rookie musher Jodi Bailey checking in and out of McGrath in three minutes.Top 10 racers and times, according to Iditarod.com:
1-Sebastian Schnuelle Out of Anvik 7:56 a.m.
2-Hugh Neff Into Anvik 5:26 a.m.
3-John Baker Into Anvik 5:43 a.m.
4-Lance Mackey Into Anvik 6:13 a.m.
5-Ray Redington Jr. Into Anvik 6:39 a.m.
6-Martin Buser Into Anvik 6:51 a.m.
7-Sonny Lindner Into Anvik 07:30 a.m.
8-Ramey Smyth Out of Shageluk 5:02 a.m.
9-Hans Gatt Out of Shageluk 5:24 a.m.
10-DeeDee Jonrowe Out of Shageluk 6:57 a.m.
