Streeper leads Fur Rondy race after first heat

With a deep field of 26 mushers pursuing a record $80,000 purse, the first two mushers on the trail -- Brent Beck and Egil Ellis -- had already completed the loop through Far North Bicentennial Park and were headed back to downtown before the last two starters -- rookies Will Kornmuller and Mike Stevens -- had even reached the park.

That put the four teams and their combined 60 dogs on a potential collision course, but good fortune prevailed.

"Egil and I were traveling together and luckily we caught them on straightaways," Beck said, noting that if the teams had met elsewhere, chaos and danger could have followed.

Beck avoided what might have been a scary encounter on the narrow overpass over Tudor Road when he saw the oncoming musher in time to slow down and avoid a difficult pass.

Beck and his team survived their 25-mile run unscathed and sit in seventh place, about five minutes behind race leader and five-time champion Blayne Streeper of Fort Nelson, British Columbia. Streeper finished in 1 hour, 31 minutes, 28 seconds, just two seconds faster than Arleigh Reynolds of Fairbanks and 14 seconds faster than Salcha's Jason Dunlap.

The second of three heats begin at noon today on Fourth Avenue.

When he drew the No. 1 start position, Beck knew it was likely he'd meet a few of the late-starting mushers, the last of whom left the Fourth Avenue starting chute 50 minutes after he did.

"I was concerned a bit. It was in the back of my head," said Beck, whose team of 14 dogs is one of the smallest in the race. With Streeper and a couple of others running as many as 20 animals, the lead dogs can be more than 60 feet ahead of the musher, meaning an encounter could be in full swing before the musher even sees the approaching team.

Even without head-on passes, Fur Rondy offers plenty to keep mushers on their toes -- narrow tunnels under the Seward Highway, overpasses that cross Northern Lights Boulevard and Tudor Road, and spectator-lined streets.

"Physically it is a tough race and mentally it is the toughest," said Reynolds, who relied on 3-year-old Guts and 5-year-old Fin to lead his team. "With the bridges and culverts and people, that's what makes it the world championship."

For a few minutes on Friday, it looked like Reynolds would earn his first stage victory in the Fur Rondy, but a strong finish by Streeper was just enough to deprive him.

"I had no idea where I was at in relation to others; my radio was going in and out. I've been close before. I've been in second a lot," said Reynolds, a veterinarian and canine exercise physiologist from Salcha.

"It's a three-day race. The goal today was to run clean and to be in the mix. We want another clean run tomorrow and the real race is on Sunday."

Last year Streeper was in third place after the first day and trailed Bill Kornmuller -- Will Kornmuller's dad -- by 2:11 entering the final day. He roared back to earn a dramatic win by nine seconds.

This year Streeper fell behind early after a minor entanglement that happened when he passed Shane Goosen about 10 miles into the race.

"One of my dogs went under his line and it took about 40 seconds to get them loose," said Streeper, who is trying to become the first person to win four straight Rondy titles. "It was really minor, as minor as you could get."

Still, the delay, plus the fact Streeper started at a slower pace than the other leaders, left him about two minutes behind Reynolds midway through the heat.

"I thought they all went out a little fast," said Streeper, who is running eight veterans from last year's team and 10 Rondy rookies. "I thought I might get them at the end and it looks like I did. Coming home we were really strong."

Right on the heels of Streeper and Reynolds is Dunlap. He started two spots behind Streeper and finished soon enough after Streeper did that Streeper quickly checked Dunlap's time to see if he had hung onto the lead.

"I'm running Joey Redington's dogs," a clearly happy Dunlap said. "We put in a good show, but it is a three-day race, we can't count on anything yet."

Dunlap had been racing a mix of dogs from his kennel and Redington's kennel throughout the season and said his Rondy team is made up of mostly Redington dogs. He's optimistic about his chances of staying in contention today and Sunday.

"You just have to look at your dogs, see what they can handle and try to go for it," Dunlap said. "You can only run as fast as your slowest dog."

Although all the new snow slowed racers down -- Friday's top times were about 10 minutes slower than last year's -- mushers were thankful for it, because it blanketed what would have been a crusty, hard and icy trail.

Find Richard Larson online at adn.com/contact/rlarson or call 257-4335.