Sorlie leads Iditarod race by wide margin

EAGLE ISLAND, Alaska – Robert Sorlie arrived at the Eagle Island checkpoint Saturday comfortably ahead of the competition, much like he did two years ago when he won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

“We just went 14 hours nonstop,” the 47-year-old Norwegian said as he pushed past a small group of greeters and parked his 15 dogs at the checkpoint on the frozen Yukon River, 420 miles from the Nome finish line. Some of the animals were surprisingly frisky, yipping and jumping in place, despite a trail Sorlie described as soft.

As the first to reach the handful of tents that make up the Eagle Island checkpoint at 11:30 a.m. AST, the firefighter from Hurdal, Norway, said he’s pretty sure of another victory.

“I shall try,” Sorlie said, handing his dogs frozen bricks of ground beef. “It’s good to be here. We made no stops, just to check booties and get quick snacks.”

Sorlie dropped two dogs here – one with a sore leg and another that “psyched out,” or didn’t want to run any more. That left him with 13, plenty to make it to Nome, he said. Two years ago, he had 12 at this point.

Four-time Iditarod winner Martin Buser pulled into the checkpoint almost four hours behind Sorlie.

Weather could become a factor as well. Temperatures were in the mid-30s and a freezing-rain advisory had been issued for Kaltag – the next checkpoint 70 miles up the trail and the point where the race swings west to the coast of Norton Sound and on to Nome.