Redington is first to White Mountain, with just 77 miles to Iditarod…

WHITE MOUNTAIN — Ryan Redington and his eight dogs were the first Iditarod team to reach White Mountain Monday afternoon, with just 77 miles to the finish line. Redington had amassed a comfortable several-hours lead over his closest competitors who opted to rest in the prior checkpoint of Elim. 

Redington immediately bedded down his dogs on straw beds after a roughly 90-mile run from Koyuk, only pausing in Elim for 13 minutes on the way. All teams must stop for eight hours at White Mountain before their final push to Nome. Redington was happy for the break.

“I’m really tired and my legs are cramping a little bit,” he said. “I’m really excited for the rest here, the eight hours.”

The afternoon sun broke through fog as a small but enthusiastic crowd welcomed Redington to the checkpoint on the banks of the Fish River. An exhausted Redington said he was glad to be in his position. 

“Very good. I’m very happy,” he said. “We worked hard for it.” 

It’s rare for the finish order to change dramatically between White Mountain and Nome, but sudden storms and brutal winds have snarled the momentum of would-be champions. Redington said it had not sunk in yet that he’s in the position to win his first Iditarod.

“Trying not to think about it too much, but we’ve got a huge lead,” he said. “But we still have 77 miles to go.” 

That lead is much larger this afternoon than it was Monday morning. Redington had a 27-minute lead over his closest competitor, Bethel’s Pete Kaiser, going into Elim. But Kaiser stopped for more than five hours, while Redington kept on mushing toward White Mountain. 

“I didn’t know if Pete was going to go through or not, so I made the move to hopefully have good results in Nome,” said Redington. 

All three of this year’s top mushers are Alaska Native, and just Kaiser has won the Iditarod before, in 2019.

Redington can leave White Mountain at 12:12 a.m. Tuesday. Some snow and wind are expected overnight when teams are running the final leg to Nome. The winner is expected to reach the finish line Tuesday morning.

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