Allen Moore of Two Rivers, Alaska, was the first Yukon Quest musher to reach Dawson City, Yukon early Thursday.
He arrived just after 12:30 a.m. with Lance Mackey and Hugh Neff not far behind. Mackey arrived before 1 a.m, and Neff arrived in third place, just after 1:30 a.m.
Moore said he must have passed Mackey and Neff when they were resting at Clinton Creek but ignored an invitation to join them.
“Someone hollered at me, I thought it might have been Lance, I wasn't sure. It sounded like him but I just kept going,” he said.
“Actually I've been running about 12 hours I believe. They stopped and I didn't, I guess.”
Moore said he wasn't sure if Neff or Mackey were ahead of him so it was pleasant surprise to be the first into Dawson City. He added both he and his dogs were glad to see the lights of Dawson when they came around the last bend in the river.
"We were going slow, I thought, and as soon as we saw that light everything picked up for them and for me," he said. "Actually I had a GPS there and we were going 10 miles an hour back there a little ways. I was like, 'wow, that's from 5.4 to 10,' that's kind of cool," Moore said.
If Moore reaches the finish line in Whitehorse, he gets four ounces of Klondike gold for being the first musher into Dawson. A Quest official says it's high quality and worth about $16,000.
The mushers and their dogs have a mandatory 36-hour layover in Dawson City, the trail’s halfway point.
The leaders are setting a gruelling pace. All three frontrunners said they have had little sleep since the race began Saturday in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Lance Mackey said the mandatory rest in Dawson City is welcome.
"I am so ready for a nap. I haven't slept a total of three hours since we left the starting line and that takes its toll," Mackey said.
"I'm glad it's 36 (hours). I'm as tired as I've ever been at this point in the race. I've seen some funny (things) and heard some really cool stuff out there. Yeah, I've seen a giant toaster. I've seen a canoe sitting on a tree stump."
Three Yukon mushers and their dog teams are still in the race after Maren Bradley of Carcross dropped out at the Circle City checkpoint.
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