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Seavey is first musher into Ophir

Anchorage Daily News

Published: March 5th, 2008 12:51 PM
Last Modified: March 6th, 2008 12:11 AM

Iditarod sled dog musher Molly Yazwinski's team dogs sleep at the the McGrath checkpoint Wednesday afternoon March 5, 2008.

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Photo by BOB HALLINEN / Anchorage Daily News

Iditarod sled dog musher Molly Yazwinski's team dogs sleep at the the McGrath checkpoint Wednesday afternoon March 5, 2008.

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Former champion Mitch Seavey took the lead into the ghost town of Ophir today as warm, wet conditions blanketed the 36th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.Seavey, winner of the 2004 race, overtook the earlier leaders, including defending champion Lance Mackey of Fairbanks, by staying only two minutes at the Takotna checkpoint.

Seavey covered the 25 miles to Ophir - nearly halfway into the 1,100-mile race - in just under three hours, a strong pace of about 8.5 mph, especially given the sloppy conditions. Forty minutes after behind him, Hugh Neff of Skagway arrived in Ophir. This is Neff's fourth Iditarod, with a best finish of 19th. But he's managed to keep his team of 14 dogs among the leaders of this race.

Looming ahead were some big decisions for mushers.

-- Where to take the one mandatory 24-hour break during the race to best refresh the team.

-- Whether to lead on a trail softened by the warm weather. Ahead lie two long, difficult stretches -- a 60-mile run from Ophir to Cripple and a 112-mile push from Cripple to the Yukon River at Ruby.

In past Iditarods, some mushers have built a gap in this section. Other mushers have exhausted their team during the push, dashing any hope for victory.

The 37-year-old Mackey was the first to reach the Takotna checkpoint shortly after midnight.

Mackey, who last year became the first musher to record back-to-back wins in the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race and Iditarod, rested his team for nearly five hours in Nikolai on Tuesday before getting back on the trail.

"I do the best I can with what I have in front of me," Mackey said last week about his race strategy. "I expect the worst and hope for the best."

Race organizers said high temperatures along the early stretch of trail are a concern.

At noon today, it was 36 degrees at the McGrath Airport, according to the National Weather Service.

About 20 dogs have been dropped so far, but there are no serious casualties, according to Iditarod spokesman Chas St. George.

"Usually in the first third of the race, mushers expect to drop a lot of dogs," This is an area with a lot of opportunities for sprains or other injuries."

Race officials said neurosurgeon Cliff Roberson of Corvallis, Ore., scratched Wednesday morning at the Rohn checkpoint after suffering minor eye injuries. Roberson, the fourth to scratch, ran the race several times in the early 1990s. His entry this year was a 60th-birthday gift from his wife.