Aliy Zirkle led Iditarod 2015 out of Koyukuk late Saturday morning, followed into the evening by Aaron Burmeister, Jeff King, Jessie Royer, and Dallas and Mitch Seavey. Over the course of 154 miles and a little over a day, these front runners jockeyed for the lead, trading rest and run times to the coast.
But as wind picked up on the long 85 mile stretch from Kaltag to Unalakleet, Dallas Seavey and Jeff King hunkered down, giving their teams a break from the bitter temperatures. Aaron Burmeister charged ahead, arriving into Unalakleet just before 4pm. As first to the coast, Burmeister won the Wells Fargo Gold Coast Award of a gold cup trophy and $3500 in gold nuggets mined from Anvil Creek in Nome.
Dallas Seavey led the race out of Unalakleet at 7:16pm Sunday night, followed by Burmeister at 8:35pm. Dallas and Aaron remain the current race leaders as of Monday afternoon, checking into Koyuk at 12:34pm and 12:37pm respectively.
