ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Reigning three-time champion Lance Mackey and four-time champion Jeff King are turning the 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race into their own two-man contest. Mackey reached Shaktoolik, the second stop on the run up the western coast of Alaska, at 4:08 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time. King, trying to match Rick Swenson's record of five victories in the 1,100-mile race, reached the village 37 minutes later. Their next leg will be offshore across Norton Sound, where winds can blow up whiteout conditions in ground storms without a flake of new snow falling. The temperature Sunday morning reached 34 below zero. Only Mackey's eyes were visible under the hood of his thick white parka. A neck gaiter covered his most and mouth and a headlamp shone from his forehead. Like their driver, Mackey's dogs were protected against the cold, sporting royal blue coats and booties to protect their feet. To see full coverage of the Iditarod, go to the Anchorage Daily News website, here.
(28 images)
(28 images)
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Mitch Seavey mushes past a patch of open water on the Yukon River after leaving the Ruby, Alaska, checkpoint during the 2010 Iditarod Sled Dog Race on Friday, March 12. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
DeeCee Jonrowe arrives Tuesday, March 9, at the Nikolai, Alaska, checkpoint during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
After completing his 24-hour layover, Quinn Iten, of Kotzebue, Alaska, pulls out of the Takotna, Alaska, checkpoint on Thursday, March 11. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Iditarod musher Dave DeCaro's lead dogs round Cordova corner at the start of the 2010 Iditarod sled dog race on Saturday, March 6, in Anchorage, Alaska. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
A musher drives his team on the Yukon River on Saturday, March 13, during the 2010 Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Jeff King checks his watch Tuesday, March 9, as he leaves the Nikolai, Alaska, checkpoint. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Five-time Iditarod champion Rick Swenson, surrounded by other sleeping mushers, catches a nap in the Ruby, Alaska, checkpoint on Friday, March 12. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Iditarod vet Samantha Yeltatzie, of Houston, Texas, takes a nap at the Takotna, Alaska checkpoint on Thursday March 11. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
An Iditarod musher cruises through the thin spruce forest near the Cripple, Alaska, checkpoint on Friday, March 12. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Mitch Seavey heads down the trail from Nikolai to McGrath, Alaska, on Tuesday, March 9. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Quinn Iten works on a sled at the checkpoint in Ruby, Alaska on Saturday, March 13. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Allen Moore of Two Rivers, Alaska, cleans ice out of the groove on his sled runner at the Takotna, Alaska, checkpoint on Thursday, March 11. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
One of Cindy Gallea's leaders howls with anticipation as she gets ready to leave the Takotna, Alaska checkpoint on Thursday March 11. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Colleen Robertia, of Kasilof, Alaska, pulls into the Takotna, Alaska, checkpoint, passing the traditional snow sculpture of a dog team by the Takotna Schoole on Thursday, March 11. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
John Baker arrives at the Unalakleet, Alaska checkpoint on Sunday, March 14. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Mitch Seavey heads down the Iditarod trail from Nikolai to McGrath, Alaska, on Tuesday, March 9. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Sled dog, Classic, checks out the scene as Jason Barron puts coats on his team after arriving at the checkpoint of Nikolai in Alaska on Tuesday, March 9. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Iditarod musher William Pinkham's dog, Rincon, is tied to the back of a truck at the McGrath, Alaska checkpoint on the Kuskokwim River on Wednesday, March 10. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Sebastian Schnuelle visits with his dogs Scruggs, Grisman and Cougar at the Takotna, Alaska checkpoint on Wednesday, March 10. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Kristy Berington rubs Algyval on her dog, Graystone, at the Ruby, Alaska checkpoint on Saturday morning, March 13. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Sebastian Schnuelle checks one of his dog's paws as as he prepares to leave the Nikolai, Alaska, checkpoint on Tuesday, March 9. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Allen Moore pulls into the McGrath, Alaska checkpoint on the Kuskokwim River on Wednesday, March 10. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Mushers and their dogs rest at the checkpoint in Nikolai, Alaska on Tuesday, March 9. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Jessie Royer arrives in Nikolai, Alaska, on Tuesday, March 9. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Jeff King works on his team as Lance Mackey walks in from the checkpoint as they prepare to leave Unalakleet, Alaska, on Sunday morning, March 14, during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Mackey left first. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
William "Middie" Johnson, of Unalakleet, Alaska, draws some hot water at the Takotna, Alaska, checkpoint on Thursday, March 11. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Sebastian Schnuelle's sled dogs rest with glow stick collars at the Takotna checkpoint on Wednesday, March 10. Takotna volunteers thought two mushers were coming in when Schnuelle arrived because he had a light mounted on his leaders chest. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
Dallas Seavey pulls out onto the Yukon River on leaving the Ruby, Alaska checkpoint on Friday, March 12, during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Anchorage Daily News / Bob Hallinen
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