Jeff King passed defending champion Lance Mackey on the Iditarod trail today between Kaltag and Unalakleet. As the first musher to the coast, Jeff King collected $2500 in gold nuggets, his 5th time to do so.
Unfortunately for King, he was too busy sleeping when he passed Mackey’s team:
To tell you the truth, I was sound asleep…I just barely saw one of (Mackey’s) dogs.
Even though Mackey was the first to leave Unalakleet, King still has a full team of 16 dogs, and with the trails more hard-packed farther north, mushers are moving faster. It likely won’t take long for King to catch back up to Mackey (King is averaging almost 9 mpg, while Mackey’s team is just over 5).
Photo from the Anchorage Daily News
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