The decision is completely the musher's -- and they range from as close to the starting line as Skwentna, about 80 miles in, to Galena, more 500 miles down the trail on the race's northern route.

There can be a small financial incentive to pushing. Nine years ago, on the race's southern route, Linwood Fielder of Willow pushed on and on and on before stopping, earning $3,000 for being the first musher to reach the Yukon River at Anvik.

But Fiedler didn't earn a Dodge truck at the finish line; that went to champion Doug Swingley, who passed Fiedler and never looked back.

This year, a similar gambit may be developing on the 1,000-mile trail to Nome.

John Baker of Kotzebue made the first move Wednesday morning.

While most front-runners were in the middle of their 24-hour layovers in Takotna, Ophir or McGrath, Baker, 47, struck out alone for Cripple, the abandoned mining town where he should be able to claim the $3,000 halfway prize.

A bid for a nice check?

A move to break a tightly bunched race open?

A desire to spring free of such front-runners as Yukon Quest champion Hans Gatt, Sebastian Schnuelle and Jeff King, the four-time Iditarod victor aiming to join Rick Swenson atop the Iditarod heap?

Perhaps a little of them all.

But there's no doubt every musher with designs on a championship noticed Baker's move.

For one thing, Baker is hot, winning the world's premier middle-distance race, the Kuskokwim 300, two months ago. And last year's third-place finish was his best Iditarod in 14 attempts.

Plus, the longer the Kotzebue musher waits before resting, the closer he gets to home terrain, where brutal coastal winds are commonplace.

Just last year, Baker pulled into the Norton Sound town of Koyuk with one eye half-frozen shut and proceeded to cut his team's rest in an effort to keep up with Schnuelle on the final stretch. Temperatures were well below zero and headwinds gusted to 70 mph.

"Growing up with (the wind) makes (it) a little easier," he said at the time. "As long as we don't get too excited, thinking that it's harder than it really is, it's just a little wind."

Until all the front-runners have completed their layovers, it will be hard to determine exactly who is ahead -- and by how much.

During the layovers, race officials account for the difference in starting time in Willow on Sunday.

But by the time mushers get off the mighty Yukon River in Kaltag, the difference between the race leaders and chasers may be a little clearer.

Additional minutes of rest time added to 24-hour layovers (based on starting times)

Linwood Fiedler 140

Cim Smyth 138

Wattie McDonald 136

Jessie Royer 132

Paul Gebhardt 130

John Baker 128

Ray Redington Jr. 126

Justin Savidis 124

Blake Freking 122

Matt Hayashida 120

Scott White 118

Newton Marshall 116

Jeff King 114

William Johnson 112

Ross Adam 108

Mitch Seavey 106

Hans Gatt 104

Ramey Smyth 102

Jane Faulkner 100

Art Church 96

Ryan Redington 94

Tamara Rose 92

Warren Palfrey 90

Quinn Iten 88

Karen Ramstead 86

DeeDee Jonrowe 82

Robert Nelson 80

Chris Adkins 78

Sebastian Schnuelle 74

Michelle Phillips 72

Martin Buser 70

Kristy Berington 68

Cindy Gallea 66

William Pinkham 64

Dallas Seavey 62

Sven Haltmann 60

Jim Lanier 58

Sonny Lindner 56

Hank Debruin 54

Zack Steer 50

Gerald Sousa 48

Lance Mackey 46

Aliy Zirkle 44

Ken Anderson 42

Dave DeCaro 40

Emil Churchin 38

Allen Moore 36

Gerry Willomitzer 34

Hugh Neff 32

Rick Swenson 30

Celeste Davis 28

Michael Williams 26

Trent Herbst 24

Colleen Robertia 22

Thomas Lesatz 20

Lachlan Clarke 18

Dan Kaduce 16

Bruce Linton 14

Sam Deltour 12

Peter Kaiser 10

Tom Thurston 8

John Stewart 6

Billy Snodgrass 4

Jason Barron 2

Judy Currier 0