Two-Time Champion Holds Commanding Lead In Iditarod Other Mushers All But Concede Grueling Sled-Dog Race To Buser

Martin Buser headed up the frozen coast of Norton Sound under a brilliant blue sky Sunday, leaving his closest competitors in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race with little hope of catching him.

Buser, of Big Lake, left at 1:02 p.m. with lead dogs Blondie and Fearless at the front of an 11-dog team. He was headed for Shaktoolik, 58 miles up the trail.

“Unless some weather slows him down, he’s definitely on a roll,” defending champion Jeff King said as he covered his sleeping dogs with blankets to shield them from the biting wind. “His team seems to have peaked. They look great.”

Doug Swingley of Lincoln, Mont., agreed that “only if something happens” did he have a chance of outrunning Buser.

Swingley left Unalakleet in second place at 2:42 p.m. with 9 dogs. King, of Denali Park, remained behind late Sunday afternoon.

The mushers have had ideal conditions - clear skies and cold temperatures - for the first 900 miles of the race. Barring any storms, Buser is setting a pace that could put him at the finish line of the 1,100-mile race from Anchorage to Nome sometime Tuesday.

Fifty-three teams departed Anchorage on March 1 for the 1,100-mile marathon to Nome. Forty-seven teams remain.