King chasing Gatt to Nome

Stephen Nowers photos

Jeff King spreading hay for his team at the dog line in White Mountain.

Four-time Iditarod champ Jeff King had hoped to pull off a fifth win, but with Lance Mackey's commanding lead, King's focus will now shift to Hans Gatt, the man who overtook him at Elim and whom King hopes to jump ahead of on the run to Nome.

King's team is fast enough that he gained on Gatt en route to White Mountain, cutting Gatt's initial 43-minute lead nearly in half.

"I'm so glad I rested my dogs for an hour," King said as he tended to his team from the checkpoint where all mushers must take a mandatory eight-hour break. "I could not have gotten here faster had I not stopped."

Stopping in Golovin to sign autographs, though, turned out to be a bit of a problem. The delay confused his dogs into thinking it was a full rest stop, and King had to persuade his dogs to keep moving. Despite the hitch, King said the solitary run was beautiful and that, all in all, the dogs were "awesome."

Hans Gatt encouraging one of his dogs to stand and eat.

Working alongside King, Gatt's team appeared more trail-worn. He rubbed them down, cooed at them and had to repeatedly encourage others to stand up and eat.

Although like King, Gatt has a fast team, he concedes "it's too late now" to catch Mackey. Mistakes earlier in the race may have cost him a chance at a first-place win. "I was too conservative earlier in the race," he said, remarking that he rested more along the way than any of the front runners. Perhaps if he had cut more rest, he noted, he could be in the lead. Still, a second-place finish would be a career best for the Iditarod veteran whose highest rank is sixth place; although, he did set a record-fast pace in this year's Yukon Quest and has won that long-distance wilderness sled dog race four times.

Leaving White Mountain for the 77-mile run to Nome, Gatt's goal will be to block King, hungry to cap his career with a top finish, from gaining ground.

"I am a lot more worried about Jeff catching me than me catching Lance," Gatt said.

Gatt left the checkpoint at White Mountain on Tuesday at 6:40 a.m., and King followed about 20 minutes later.