A 46-year-old musher born in England and raised in Norway is leading the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday.
Thomas Waerner of Torpa, Norway, arrived at the checkpoint in Rohn late Monday night. He and his 14 dogs stayed in the checkpoint for only nine minutes before taking off for the 75-mile (120.70-kilometer) run to the next checkpoint in Nikolai.
This is Waerner’s second Iditarod; he finished 17th in 2015 and was named Rookie of the Year.
Joar Leifseth Ulsom arrives at the Rainy Pass checkpoint on Puntilla Lake, Monday, March 9, 2020, in Alaska, during the Iditarod trail sled dog race. (Marc LesterAnchorage Daily News via AP)
There are 28 other mushers who have also left the Rohn checkpoint. Another Norwegian, 2018 champion Joar Leifseth Ulsom, was in second place. The rest of the top five were Alaskans: Jessie Royer, Richie Diehl and Ramey Smyth.
Mitch Seavey, a three-time Iditarod winner, was in seventh place and defending champion Pete Kaiser was in 10th.
The race started Sunday for 57 mushers in Willow, Alaska, about 50 miles north of Anchorage. The winner of the nearly 1,000-mile (1609.34-kilometer) race across Alaska is expected at the finish line in Nome sometime next week.
One of Paige Drobny's dogs rides in her sled as she reaches the Rainy Pass, Alaska, checkpoint, heading toward the Alaska Range mountains, Monday, March 9, 2020, during the Iditarod trail sled dog race. (Marc LesterAnchorage Daily News via AP)
Wade Marrs laughs while talking with people at the Rainy Pass, Alaska, checkpoint on Puntilla Lake, heading toward the Alaska Range mountains, Monday, March 9, 2020, during the Iditarod trail sled dog race. (Marc LesterAnchorage Daily News via AP)