Arleigh Reynolds of Salcha took a slim 13-second lead over defending champion Blayne Streeper of British Columbia in Friday's opening heat of the Fur Rendezvous World Championship Sled Dog Race.
Both of the frontrunners' teams looked spectacular coming and going. Reynolds was driving 17 dogs, Streeper 20, and both returned with their full teams.
But Reynolds, who went out second in the interval start, may have had the benefit of a slightly better trail. Streeper left in the 17th position after conditions deteriorated somewhat due to warming temperatures and 16 other teams softening up the snow ahead of him.
Reynolds made the 25-mile run in 1 hour, 31 minutes, 45 seconds. Streeper was right behind in 1:31:58.
More than a minute behind Streeper are three mushers separated by 29 seconds -- Egil Ellis of Willow (1:33:07), Ken Chezik of Michigan (1:33:34) and Jason Dunlap of Salcha (1:33:36).
Two incidents a short distance from the starting line added some drama to the day and cost the mushers involved valuable time, while a shortage of handlers at the starting line prompted race officials to recruit bystanders.
The team of Don Cousins of Alberta took an unexpected left turn onto C Street and it took a minute or more to straighten things out.
And Michigan's Randy DeKuiper lost hold of his sled. His dogs kept running full out as he tried to catch them. Race officials caught the sled after the dogs had run about two blocks and held it until DeKuiper could get back on board.
At the starting line, a handful of bystanders got closer than most to the race when officials asked for volunteers to work as handlers. Josh Miller and his girlfriend Kera VenHuizen stepped in. Still more hands were necessary, so officials recruited Miss Rondy Queen Desiree Merculief and Princess Haley Dobis, who hunched down and held the dogs in place in their fancy fur parkas and tiaras.
Ryan Redington, grandson of Joe Redington, Sr., caught the crowd's attention in a lime green suit and a Kermit the Frog hat. Announcers broadcasting the race on KHAR called him "The Green Machine."
But Streeper was a study in seriousness, calmly walking the line in the final seconds before his start, checking details of clips and harnesses. He spotted a few clumps of snow in front of a wheel dog and carefully smoothed it out like a golfer preparing for a putt.
The power of Streeper's 20 dogs was evident as he took off, riding the brake to keep them arrow-straight, sending up a rooster-tail of sloppy snow in his wake.
Reynolds sped through the first half of the race, getting the fastest times between checkpoints until Campbell Airstrip. There Streeper's dogs poured on the speed, with Chezik and Ellis also accelerating during the return leg. Dunlap held onto the second spot for much of the race only to have three mushers best him as the end came in sight.
It's been 18 years since an Alaskan -- Roxy Wright -- last won the race. The last nine titles have gone to Ellis, who maintains a kennel in Willow but is a Swedish citizen, and Streeper. Ellis won four times between 1999 and 2005 and Streeper has won the last four races to go along with a 2004 victory.
Racers will leave the downtown starting line today at noon in the reverse order of Friday's finish. So Reynolds will be the last musher to hit the trail, right behind Streeper. Temperatures are expected to be lower for the second heat.
Reach Mike Dunham at mdunham@adn.com or 257-4332.
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