All five of the top mushers on the leaderboard have cleared the checkpoint at Grayling.
After briefly losing his lead to Mitch Seavey yesterday, Nicolas Petit is back in front, leaving Grayling yesterday at 4:48 pm (Alaska time) with 14 dogs and an average speed of 6.35 mph.
Mitch Seavey exited the checkpoint last night at 9:45 pm, checking off his 8-hour rest period. He is now carrying 12 dogs at an average speed of 6.71 mph.
Joar Leifseth Ulsom also completed his 8-hour rest at Grayling, leaving at 9:58 pm with 15 dogs at an average speed of 6.28 mph.
Ray Redington, Jr. left Grayling at 4:05 this morning with 14 dogs and an average speed of 6.71 mph.
Filling out the top five, Peter Kaiser left 14 minutes later with 12 dogs and an average speed of 6.59 mph.
Petit, Redington, and Kaiser had previously completed their 8-hour rest periods. They are all out for the 122-mile trek to Kaltag, the last checkpoint before reaching the coast of the Bering Strait.
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!