Photos: 2012 Iditarod - Mushers reach the coast

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Dallas Seavey's lead dogs get ready to leave Unalakleet for Shaktoolik on Sunday, March 11, 2012.

As the first hint of daylight brightened the sky over Norton Sound, Aliy Zirkle pulled through a crowd of fans into Unalakleet early Sunday morning, a rugged 80-mile run from Kaltag behind her and still leading the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Barely.

A dozen dogs still in harness, Zirkle made the crossing from the Yukon River to the coast in 13 hours, 33 minutes, pulling in at 7:28 a.m. She earned the Wells Fargo Gold Coast Award, $2,500 of gold nuggets purchased from local miner Jim Hanson and a gold cup.

But 2011 Yukon Quest champion Dallas Seavey was closing fast on the Two Rivers musher, checking in just 51 minutes behind her. He'd finished the same run from Kaltag nearly two hours quicker than Zirkle, finally unleashing what some race watchers had been calling a "monster dog team" for the last 200 miles.

Quickly, both mushers had company. Aaron Burmeister of Nenana arrived 11 minutes after Seavey. And defending champion John Baker of Kotzebue trailed Burmeister by 38 minutes.