Zirkle retakes lead in Iditarod sled dog race

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Aliy Zirkle was once held up as being the Iditarod’s best chance for becoming the sled dog race’s first female champion in two decades, and the 41-year-old musher’s time may finally have come.

With roughly two-thirds of the nearly 1,000-mile race across Alaska left to go Saturday, Zirkle, of Two Rivers, held a strong lead thanks to strategy that put a checkpoint between herself and her competitors.

“She couldn’t be in a better place,” said Allen Moore, Zirkle’s husband and an accomplished long-distance musher in his own right.

The race began March 4 with 66 teams. The total purse is $550,000 for the first 30 finishers, with the winner receiving $50,400 and a new truck. The winner is expected in Nome early next week.

Four mushers have scratched from the race already, the latest being Zoya DeNure on Saturday. She cited concern for her dogs as her team was about halfway through the race.

Zirkle – known for her big smile and exemplary dog care along the trial – pulled into the checkpoint in the village of Nulato at 6:13 a.m. Saturday but didn’t stay long before steering her dog team toward Kaltag. The trail goes on the frozen Yukon River, often declared by mushers as being the worst part of the Iditarod because of the long, boring, wind-swept stretches of nothingness.

From Kaltag, teams head to the town of Unalakleet along the coast. From there, it is a little more than 200 miles along the coast to the finish line in Nome in what can turn out to be a mad-dash by teams jockeying for position.

It will be Zirkle’s job to stay ahead – something her husband said is far from a sure thing given the tough field of worthy competitors.

“We have a long way to go,” Moore said. “She has a lot of people on her tail. They are not too far behind.”

One small mistake could cost Zirkle the lead, he said.

Zirkle arrived in Kaltag late Saturday morning with a more than three-hour lead on defending champion John Baker who moved into second place.

Mitch Seavey, the 2004 champion, was in third place, followed by Aaron Burmeister; Mitch’s son, Dallas Seavey; and four-time champion Jeff King.

The last woman to win was the Susan Butcher, who dominated the race with wins from 1986-1988 and again in 1990. Butcher retired from racing and died of leukemia in 2006.