ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Wade Marrs leads out of the halfway point of Alaska’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
The 26-year-old veteran musher left Huslia at 7:05 p.m. Friday with 14 dogs.
Current champ Dallas Seavey was 34 minutes behind him to take second place, after dropping one of his 14 dogs.
Joar Leifseth Ulsom of Norway trailed the lead by two hours, followed by former champion Mitch Seavey.
Peter Kaiser left Huslia at 3:49 a.m. Saturday in fifth place.
A 2-year-old male dog on Scott Smith’s team died Friday in transit from the Galena checkpoint. The injured Smoke had been dropped Tuesday. A necropsy is planned.
The race across nearly 1,000 miles of Alaska wilderness started Monday in Fairbanks. The winner is expected next week in Nome, along the frozen Bering Sea coast.
