As of 4 p.m. Monday, GPS tracking indicated that Hugh Neff was the farthest musher along the trail out of Rainy Pass. Trackers showed three other mushers near Neff: Ray Redington Jr., four-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey and Aaron Burmeister. Other mushers out of Rainy Pass included Aliy Zirkle, last year’s champion John Baker and Kelley Griffin.
Race standings updated at 4 p.m. showed a rapid breakout by its leaders from Rainy Pass in the space of half an hour Monday afternoon. Neff was in the lead after leaving Rainy Pass at 2:58 p.m., followed closely by Redington at 3:09 p.m. and Burmeister at 3:12 p.m. Mackey was in fourth, departing Rainy Pass at 3:15 p.m., followed by Aliy Zirkle rounding out the top five at 3:28 p.m.
Visit KTUU.com’s special Iditarod section and watch the Channel 2 newscasts for more coverage from the trail, with social-media updates from KTUUSports on Twitter and Channel 2 Sports on Facebook. You can sign up here for text alerts on our Iditarod coverage.
Also, look for exclusive online content at KTUU.com including a photo gallery from the race’s ceremonial start in Anchorage, a video of Lance Mackey explaining his sled dogs’ names and a montage of mushers checking in and out of Skwentna.
