Sports

Kleedehn first into Dawson

William Kleedehn of Carcross, Yukon, and Kasilof's Jon Little pulled into the Dawson City checkpoint of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race within two minutes of each other Tuesday night.

Kleedehn arrived at 9:15 p.m. AST ahead of Little, both with 13 dogs in harness. Hugh Neff, with 12 dogs, arrived 58 minutes behind Little.

Dawson City is 451 miles into the 1,000-mile race between Whitehorse and Fairbanks.

The promise of gold awaited mushers at the historic gold-rush town. Four ounces of Klondike placer gold is awarded to the first dog driver who reaches Dawson City and also goes on to reach the finish line in Fairbanks.

Little and his 13 dogs zipped right through Scroggie Creek at 4 a.m., stopping only long enough to check in and check out. He was almost five hours ahead of the record pace set in 2007 by Lance Mackey, the winner of the last four Quests who isn't entered this year.

"I think Jon has a really strong dog team," race marshal Doug Grilliot said.

Sebastian Schnuelle followed Little, going through the checkpoint at 7:30 a.m.

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Kleedehn and Neff both arrived at Scoggie Creek ahead of Little and Schnuelle, but chose to camp there for a while. Kleedehn and Neff left Scroggie at 9:20 a.m., with Neff resting a half an hour less than Kleedehn.

Hans Gatt, a three-time Quest champ, and Brent Sass left Scroggie Creek shortly after noon -- Gatt at 12:05 p.m. and Sass at 12:15.

Later in the afternoon, at 3:35 p.m and 3:45 p.m. respectively, Warren Palfry and Martin Buser left the checkpoint. Buser, a four-time Iditarod champ racing his first Quest, was down to 10 dogs after dropping two at Scroggie Creek. He began the race with 14.

Scroggie Creek is a remote stop on the Yukon Quest trail and sits halfway between Pelly Crossing and Dawson City, a 201-mile stretch of trail with little signs of civilization along the way. Comprised of an old cabin and several canvas wall tents, it is a small and spare haven in the middle of the wilderness.

Daily News and wire reports

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