"Dallas Seavey"

Teams have continued pouring into Nome, filling out the upper ranks of the 2017 Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Champion Mitch Seavey won his third title Tuesday in a record time of eight days, three hours, and 40 minutes, slashing more than seven hours off the previous record.

Nome may be less than 24 hours away from its 2017 Iditarod finish. Assuming no unexpected complications or changes in his pace, Mitch Seavey could arrive under the Burled Arch as this year’s Iditarod champion by about 7 p.m. Tuesday night — perhaps slightly earlier.

Iditarod teams have left the Yukon river and reached the Bering Sea coast. Mushers are shedding equipment, dropping slow dogs, and looking to make a move in the final 300 miles of the Iditarod.

Wade Marrs led two past champions into the Ruby checkpoint last night in the 2017 Iditarod. Three-hundred-fifty miles into the trail, the racing is underway as teams plot their next moves along hundreds of winding miles on the Yukon River.

During the first night of this year’s Iditarod, teams endured frigid temperatures on the Tanana River to reach the second checkpoint of Manley Hot Springs. Teams are adjusting to the deep cold and preparing to push to the Yukon River, where the race will unfold.

Mushers are on the rivers heading out of Fairbanks right now, as the 45th Iditarod starts in earnest. This is the second time in three races that the restart has been in Fairbanks. And a lot of the mushers have vivid memories of the 2015 race, so this year, they’re trying to pack accordingly.

In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, Dallas Seavey and his dog team came running down front to claim victory in this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and he sat a new race record.

The first team to pull into the second to last checkpoint on the 1,000-mile trail was Dallas Seavey’s. Seavey said there was a point on the Yukon River when he wondered if he was even still in contention for a top finish.

“This is getting to be far enough into the race where you’re going to start seeing some people pushing the pace start to fall back a little bit,” said defending Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey.

Dallas Seavey crossed under the burled arch in Nome at 4:13 a..m. Wednesday, securing his second-consecutive Iditarod win and his third four years.