As of Monday morning, March 16, in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, Thomas Waerner is out on the Norton Sound ice approaching Koyuk. About 15 miles behind him is Brent Sass, followed by Jessie Royer, Aaron Burmeister, and others. There are more than a dozen teams out of Unalakleet this morning, including Bethel's Pete Kaiser, making their way along the coastline to the next official checkpoint in Koyuk.
Yukom-Kuskokwim Delta mushers are back in the middle of the pack. Kaiser, who fought a stomach flu on the Yukon River and had to take additional rests, checked into the Unalakleet checkpoint at around 1 a.m. with Aniak's Richie Diehl a half hour behind. Kaiser left Unalakleet at 7:45 a.m. Bethel's Jessica Klejka left Kaltag a bit after 11:30 p.m. on March 15 to take the overland route to the coast.