ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Aliy Zirkle has retaken her lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and appears to be the one to beat.
Zirkle pulled into the checkpoint at Nulato 346 miles from the finish in Nome about an hour and a half ahead of Dallas Seavey, son of 2004 Iditarod champion Mitch Seavey.
Zirkle spent seven minutes in the checkpoint before heading to the next checkpoint at Kaltag 47 miles away.
With the nearly 1,000-mile race about two-thirds over, this is the time when strategy comes into play for the front-runners. While other mushers rested in Ruby, Zirkle chose to push onto Galena and retook the lead from Mitch Seavey, now in third.
The last woman to win the Iditarod was Susan Butcher in 1990.
