As many top mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race caught up on sleep, food and relaxation in the comfortable village of Takotna, Hans Gatt of Whitehorse and Cim Smyth of Big Lake pushed ahead to Ophir in the early morning hours.

Gatt arrived first, checking in at 4:02 a.m. Fifty-three minutes later, Smyth joined him.

Last month's Yukon Quest champion, Gatt was aiming to do what was once thought impossible and now is nearly routine -- claim the world's two premier distance mushing marathons back to back.

Lance Mackey of Fairbanks first accomplished the feat in 2007 and repeated it a year later. Then last year, surprising Sebastian Schnuelle nearly pulled it off again -- winning the Quest and finishing second to Mackey in the Iditarod.

Two thousand trail miles in a month? Tired dogs? Logistical nightmares? No problem.

While Gatt owned the Quest, Smyth's early performance suggest he may be an overlooked contender in the 1,000-mile race to Nome. Since 2004, when he finished a distant 43rd, Smyth has inched his way up the standings to his personal-best fifth-place finish last year.

He and brother Ramey, who was third in 2008, are trying to elevate their family name to a place reserved for the Mackeys, who own three championships; the Seaveys, who own one; and the Redingtons, whose patriarch Joe Sr. created the race in the 1970s.

Back then, Bud Smyth, father of Cim and Ramey, was beside Redington as a pioneer musher. He finished 12th in the inaugural run and went on to place as high as fourth in a half-dozen races.

But to reached the burled arch of Nome's Front Street first, Cim will need to hold off more than a dozen front-runners with similar plans.

By 5 a.m. Wednesday, 20 mushers had reached Takotna -- a large lead pack this late in the race. Among them are Mackey, the ninth musher to arrive; four-time champion Jeff King, the first into Takotna; Schnuelle and John Baker, the Kuskokwim 300 champion.

While the front-running group was loaded with talent, the dean of the Iditarod, five-time champ Rick Swenson, was serving notice he could be a factor, too. Here's why:

The flat 18-mile run from McGrath to Takotna is often seen as a barometer of teams' raw speed, since the run is flat and too short to merit a stop. Swenson made the run in 2 hours, 14 minutes -- faster than anyone. King took 2:16.

The speedy run left Swenson in 17th place. But the 57-year-old from Two Rivers has been taking slightly longer rests at the early checkpoints and still has all 16 of his starters in harness.

Sixty trail miles ahead is the halfway point of Cripple, a now-abandoned mining town, and $3,000 awaits the first musher to arrive.