Mackey leads (again) Mitch and Dallas both in top 10
As the mushers race down the Bearing Sea Coast, Lance Mackey leads for the 4th year in a row, with Jeff King and Hans Gatt close behind. Both Mitch and Dallas are having great run, both will likely finish in the top 10 again!
When the top 5 mushers, including Mitch, stopped in Takotna to take their 24 hour break, Dallas continued on to Cripple. He chased John Baker for 96 miles over frosen tundra, finally closing a 5 hour gap and catching John 3 miles before Cripple to claim the first to the halfway prize of $3,000 in gold. Jeff King is actually leading the race, although it won't become obvious until all the 24s are over. Hugh Neff is in second, with Mitch about an hour behind Jeff, and a mile behind Hugh.
Mitch and Dallas Seavey along with Belgian musher Sam Deltour were among 71 teams to leave Anchorage in route to Nome on Sunday. Mitch is the 2004 champion, and coming off a 4th place finish in '09. He feels this is the best team he's ever driven, and is hoping for a second win. Dallas finished a phenomenal 6th last year, earning him most improved musher, and the youngest musher to ever finish in the top 10. He's hoping for a repeat of last year, although he won't rule out a championship run. Sam Deltour is racing his second Iditarod with Seavey dogs, and he just finished the Yukon Quest last week. His goal is to train young dogs, so look for Sam to be bringing up the rear with a big team of fast young dogs. You can follow all the action at www.iditarod.com and be sure to sign up for the Iditarod Insider, it allows you full access to the GPS tracking devices (and they actually work:) and a ton of great footage from the trail.
