Buser’s Fast Pace Leads Iditarod

Two-time champion Martin Buser was first across the treacherous Farewell Burn and into this small native village today, about three hours ahead of the record pace in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Buser, from Big Lake, arrived 33 minutes before Doug Swingley of Lincoln, Mont. Mitch Seavey of Seward was third, two minutes behind Swingley.

Bitter cold through the Alaska Range was keeping the Iditarod Trail hard and fast as the 1,100-mile race from Anchorage to Nome entered its third day. The mushers were running in temperatures overnight that dropped to 15 degrees below zero.

It appeared Swingley and Buser were trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and defending champion Jeff King as they could in the early going.

King, from Denali Park, had been the leader out of the Rohn checkpoint, 93 miles down the trail.

Before taking the front position Monday night, King marveled at the pace the leaders had set.

King speculated that teams running so fast this early in the race will lose their momentum.