Martin Buser leads 1,000-mile Iditarod on 2nd day

AAA??Mar. 4, 2013?11:31 AM ET
Martin Buser leads 1,000-mile Iditarod on 2nd day
AP

Scott Janssen is high-fived by his handlers as he leaves the starting line of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Sunday, March 3, 2013, in Willow, Alaska. 65 teams will be making their way through punishing wilderness toward the finish line in Nome on Alaska's western coast 1,000 miles away. (AP Photo/The Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen) LOCAL TV OUT (KTUU-TV, KTVA-TV) LOCAL PRINT OUT (THE ANCHORAGE PRESS, THE ALASKA DISPATCH)

Scott Janssen is high-fived by his handlers as he leaves the starting line of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Sunday, March 3, 2013, in Willow, Alaska. 65 teams will be making their way through punishing wilderness toward the finish line in Nome on Alaska's western coast 1,000 miles away. (AP Photo/The Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen) LOCAL TV OUT (KTUU-TV, KTVA-TV) LOCAL PRINT OUT (THE ANCHORAGE PRESS, THE ALASKA DISPATCH)

A dog waits to run in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Sunday, March 3, 2013, in Willow, Alaska. 65 teams will be making their way through punishing wilderness toward the finish line in Nome on Alaska's western coast 1,000 miles away. (AP Photo/Rachel D'Oro)

Katherine Keith puts booties on one of John Baker?s sled dogs before the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Sunday, March 3, 2013, in Willow, Alaska. 65 teams will be making their way through punishing wilderness toward the finish line in Nome on Alaska's western coast 1,000 miles away. (AP Photo/The Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen) LOCAL TV OUT (KTUU-TV, KTVA-TV) LOCAL PRINT OUT (THE ANCHORAGE PRESS, THE ALASKA DISPATCH)

Musher Anna Berington, left, pulls her dog team up to the start line as Jessie Royer, right, talks to her leaders during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Sunday, March 3, 2013, in Willow, Alaska. 65 teams will be making their way through punishing wilderness toward the finish line in Nome on Alaska's western coast 1,000 miles away. (AP Photo/The Anchorage Daily News, Bill Roth) LOCAL TV OUT (KTUU-TV, KTVA-TV) LOCAL PRINT OUT (THE ANCHORAGE PRESS, THE ALASKA DISPATCH)

RAINY PASS, Alaska (AP) ? Four-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Martin Buser was the first musher out of the starting chute and has the early lead in the nearly 1,000-mile race from Anchorage to Nome.

Buser pulled into the scenic Rainy Pass checkpoint at 5:38 a.m. Monday, spending just two minutes there before getting back on the trail.

He was followed by another musher with impressive Iditarod credentials ? four-time champion Lance Mackey. He pulled into the Finger Lake checkpoint on Sunday night, also spending just a couple minutes resting before heading out again.

Sixty-five mushers and their dog teams began the Iditarod on Sunday. The field this year includes six past Iditarod winners. The race is expected to wind up in Nome on Alaska's western coast in about eight or nine days.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-04-US-Iditarod/id-02ab558080f54b06bfcd81013a3df7ec

colbert super pac sloth birth control pill recall ground hog day florida primary results black history groundhogs day