Mike Morgan and Chris Olds were the first Iron Dog team to reach Kaltag on Thursday, pulling in at 3:59 p.m. and declaring their mandatory 10-hour layover.
At the start of the day, Marc McKenna and Dusty VanMeter held the lead in the 2,000-mile snowmachine race from Big Lake to Fairbanks. They were the first to reach Nome on Tuesday and the first to reach Unalakleet, the checkpoint about 95 miles from Kaltag.
McKenna and VanMeter decided to take their 10-hour layover in Unalakleet, after they arrived at 12:24 p.m. Eleven other teams adopted the same strategy, choosing to layover in Unalakleet.
The only other drivers to continue on to Kaltag were the team of Bob Jauhola and Tom Kriska, who were still on the trail as of Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
Iron Dog
Top 10 teams as of 8:30 p.m. Thursday
1) Mike Morgan and Chris Olds, Kaltag; 2) Marc McKenna and Dusty VanMeter, Unalakleet; 3) Todd Minnick and Nick Olstad, Unalakleet; 4) Ryan Sottosanti and Andrew Zwink, Unalakleet; 5) Tyler Huntington and Tre West III, Unalakleet; 6) Todd Palin and Scott Davis, Unalakleet; 7) Doug Dixon and Wayne Wold, Unalakleet; 8) Don Redick and Rob Robinson, Unalakleet; 9) Bob Jauhola and Tom Kriska, on trail to Katlag; 10) Archie Agnes and Arnold Marks Jr., Unalakleet.
Anchorage Daily News