Ready for a rematch?

Jeff King of Denali Park and Lance Mackey of Fairbanks are leading a pack of 63 mushers still headed for Nome, conjuring memories of their thrilling stretch run two years ago when Mackey took advantage of a napping King to seize his second victory in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

And while the same two players are back in front this year, there are differences.

• King is leading. Two years ago, King was chasing Mackey -- and seemed ready to pass at any time. But it never happened. Into Ruby this year, King owned a 72-minute advantage.

• King has speed. The leaders are only about midway through the 1,000-mile marathon, and much racing remains, but King had the second-fastest time from Cripple to Ruby, the first checkpoint on the Yukon River.

• Mackey is down to 13 dogs. Right now, that's no problem. King has only two more. But should two or three of Mackey's dogs get injured or fall ill, he could wind up short on dog power.

"Your team is looking phenomenal," a Ruby race official told King shortly after he arrived there at 3:08 a.m.

The dogs' reward after nearly 10 hours on the trail from Cripple? Fresh straw, spread out by King, food and a nap.

"We're only halfway into this thing," former musher and current analyst Bruce Lee wrote on the Iditarod Web site, "but one thing is obvious: Whoever wins this thing is going to have to beat Jeff King's team."

That will not be easy, even if the 54-year-old musher -- he'd extend his own record as the oldest victor in race history -- slows a bit on the way to the Norton Sound coast.

Any slowing won't be because the whippet-thin King is famished.

As the first musher to reach the Yukon River, King got to feast on an eight-course meal that Millennium Hotel Anchorage chef Jared Leake prepared on camp stoves. Highlights included Alaska king crab, bison stew, grilled halibut with citrus sauce, lemon sorbet, potatoes, brown sugar and carrots, with a blackberry jubilee to top things off. The $3,500 he earned as the first to the Yukon River went in his pocket.

Tasty?

"Spectacular," said King.

King had polished off the blackberry dessert by the time Mackey arrived. Ten minutes behind Mackey was Hugh Neff of Tok, also behind 13 dogs. Forty-two minutes later, 2004 champion Mitch Seavey of Sterling arrived.

At 6:32 a.m., Hans Gatt of Whitehorse joined the foursome at 6:32 a.m. after recording the fastest run from Cripple, topping King by a half-hour.

Should King maintain his lead all the way to Nome, he could lead a banner year for graybeards. Fairbanks musher Sonny Lindner, 60, was seventh out of Cripple. Lindner first traveled the Iditarod trail in 1978, just the fifth year of the race that's now in its 38th edition.

Not far behind Lindner is 57-year-old Rick Swenson, who won the first of his record five race titles in 1977 as a 24-year-old. Swenson was in 11th place out of Cripple and was the only musher in the top 25 with all 16 of his dogs still in harness.

Mushers report a firm, fast trail base with lots of moguls, a trail best suited to teams with speed.

"It looks like this may come down to the classic battle of the tortoise and the hare," wrote Lee. "Long steady runs versus short runs with more rests to keep your speed up."

Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.