Seavey’s sled reaches ghost town first

TAKOTNA, Alaska – Former champion Mitch Seavey took the lead at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, the first musher to reach the ghost town of Ophir.

The winner of the 2004 race overtook the earlier leaders, including defending champion Lance Mackey of Fairbanks, Alaska, by staying only 2 minutes at the Takotna checkpoint.

Seavey covered the 25 miles to Ophir – 444 miles into the 1,100-mile race – in just less than three hours.

Also out of Takotna were Hugh Neff, Zack Steer, Ed Iten, Paul Gebhart, Ramey Smyth and Martin Buser.

Besides Mackey, 11 other mushers remained at Takotna early in the day.

The 37-year-old Mackey was the first to reach the Takotna checkpoint. Mackey, who last year became the first to record back-to-back wins in the 1,100-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race and Iditarod, rested his team for nearly five hours in Nikolai on Tuesday before getting back on the trail to Nome.

“I do the best I can with what I have in front of me,” Mackey said last week about his race strategy. “I expect the worst and hope for the best.”

Race organizers said high temperatures along the early stretch of the trail are the main concern in the Iditarod.

Race spokesman Chas St. George said some areas were reporting temperatures in the 30s, which “is too hot for the dogs to run in.” A stretch between the checkpoint at Rainy Pass and Nikolai reported a high of 43 Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

St. George said last year about this time, temperatures were in the zero-degree range in this part of the trail.

At the same time, teams are dealing with heavy snow along the trail.

“But there are no blizzard conditions,” St. George said.