Iditarod 37: Mackey leads a pack of 7 into Rainy Pass

RAINY PASS — Lance Mackey sprinted to the front of the pack and arrived in Rainy Pass at 11:34 a.m. Monday to take the lead in the 2009 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Six others have also reached Rainy Pass.

Bjornar Anderson (12:43 p.m.), Ramey Smyth (1 p.m.), Aliy Zirkle (1:02 p.m.), Hans Gatt (1:03 p.m.), Jeff King (1:06 p.m.) and Aaron Peck (1:20 p.m.) all hit Rainy Pass within a 40-minute span.

Sebastian Schnuelle had held the lead. The Canadian musher left Finger Lake at 6:13 a.m. Monday, about 40 minutes ahad of second-place Paul Gebhardt, of Kasilof.

As of 12:45 p.m. Monday, Mackey was the only musher into Rainy Pass, while 28 others were en route to Rainy Pass from Finger Lake.

Iditarod 37 Top-10 (As of 3 p.m. Monday)

Into Rainy Pass — 1. L. Mackey 11:34 p.m., 2. B. Anderson, 12:43 p.m., 3. R. Smyth, 1 p.m., 4. A. Zirkle, 1:02 p.m., 5. H. Gatt, 1:03 p.m., 6. J. King, 1:06 p.m., 7. Aaron Peck, 1:20 p.m.

Out of Finger Lake — 8. S. Schnuelle 6:13 a.m., 9. P. Gebhardt, 6:52 a.m., 10. E. Iten 7:30 a.m.,