Former champion reclaims the lead in Iditarod Sled Dog Race

By evening, sled positioning trackers showed 2004 Iditarod winner Mitch Seavey ahead of four-time champion Jeff King and last year's runner-up Aliy Zirkle, as he reached the checkpoint at Elim, 123 miles (198 kilometers)from the finish line in Nome, a frontier town on Alaska's wind-pummeled coast.

Others were closing in, including Ray Redington Jr., the grandson of race co-founder Joe Redington Sr. Nome favorite Aaron Burmeister was fifth behind Redington as he raced toward his hometown.

If he were to win the Iditarod, one local official said, it could be pandemonium. The “place would come unglued,” said Richard Beneville, the vice president of the Nome Chamber of Commerce.

Even though Seavey's son, Dallas Seavey, won after beating Zirkle by an hour last year, leaders in this year's Iditarod have been leapfrogging each other. That led race spokeswoman Erin McLarnon to call this year's race of the tightest in years.

Front-runners began traveling north along the frozen Bering Sea Coast on Sunday as they jockeyed for the front of the line.

King snatched the lead earlier Monday from Seavey, leaving the Koyuk checkpoint first.

King left Koyuk just six minutes after arriving, then camped out for a while 8 miles (13 kilometers) from the checkpoint. His team began moving again late morning.

“You must be having fun,” a local said in an Iditarod.com video as the 57-year-old veteran prepared to leave Koyuk.

“Does it show?” King said.

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