FAST PACE

MAT-SU — It’s been a wild ride during the first few days of the 39th Iditarod, and folks around the Last Great Race expect the excitement to only grow as the mushers make the legendary trek toward Nome.

The following is a wrap-up of some of the ups and downs from the first five days of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Canadian leads push to Shageluk

Sebastian Schnuelle stormed out of the ghost town of Iditarod just before 6 Thursday evening leading the push to Shageluk. The Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, musher was the first to leave the checkpoint. But it wasn’t long before a pack of teams were in pursuit of the lead dog. Tok’s Hugh Neff left at 6:12 p.m., and Martin Buser, John Baker and Hans Gatt soon took off within a 13-minute span.

Four-time defending champion Lance Mackey left just before 7 p.m.

As of press time Thursday night, the top 12 were out of Iditarod.

One busy checkpoint

Takotna turned out to be a popular spot for the mandatory 24-hour layover. About half the field ending up taking their day off from competition at the checkpoint, which lies 18 miles northeast of McGrath.

“Due to the conditions, how fast everybody was going, it was the perfect place to rest,” ITC spokesman Chas St. George said.

Making his move

While many of the top mushers in the field chose to park in Takotna for their 24-hour break, St. George couldn’t help but praise the work of Trent Herbst.

The Ketchum, Idaho, musher muscled his way through to Iditarod before taking his break.

“It’s pretty cool,” St. George said. “It’s not a bad strategy at all.”

St. George said Herbst’s move brought him back to races in the 1990s and 2000s when it was more common to see mushers push farther before taking the layover.

Herbst also scored $3,000 for his efforts, the reward for being the top musher to hit Iditarod.

Young guns showing promise

Herbst is a relative newcomer, starting his mushing career at 2005, but he’s a veteran of the race. Some Iditarod rookies are catching some attention as well, St. George said.

“We’re really interested in those rookies,” St. George said.

As of press time Thursday, Girdwood’s Nicolas Petit — fresh of his layover — was sitting in 26th. The likes of Mike Santos, Jodi Bailey and Cain Carter have also impressed.

Former champ out

Mitch Seavey, the 2004 Iditarod champ, was forced to withdraw from the race on Thursday after injuring his right hand while trying to cut through straw in Ophir.

“It was injured to the point where our race marshal made the decision to withdraw (Seavey),” St. George said.

Seavey is one of seven mushers out of the field, as of Thursday night.

Veterans Paul Gebhart, Gerry Willomitzer and Jessica Hendricks were among those to scratch.