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Local musher hopes to finish Iditarod

Peter Reuter (Enterprise photo - Lou Reuter)

Peter Reuter of Bloomingdale is still on the Iditarod trail.

The part-time resident of Bloomingdale is competing in the nearly 1,000-mile sled dog race across the interior of Alaska for the first time. He reached his last checkpoint at 9:59 a.m. Tuesday in the village of Kaltag with 10 dogs pulling his sled, but he dropped down to nine dogs to start the next stretch, an 85-mile trek to Unalakleet, the longest run remaining in the race. After resting for eight hours and 10 minutes, Reuter left Kaltag shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday.

So far, Reuter and his team of dogs from the Cook Inlet Kennel had logged 622 miles upon reaching the Kaltag checkpoint, which left the 54-year-old musher with 346 miles to go.

The race started in Fairbanks on March 6, and mushers and their dogs endured temperatures below negative 30 degrees for the opening several days and nights of the race. A field of 73 competitors started the race that ends in Nome. Each racer starts with 16 dogs and must reach the finish line with at least five dogs.

On Tuesday, veteran Alaskan Mitch Seavey set two records in the 45th Iditarod when he became this year’s first racer to reach Nome. He became the oldest competitor to triumph in the race, winning it for the third time at the age of 57. The resident of Seward, Alaska, also completed the 968-mile run in a record time of eight days, three hours, 40 minutes and 13 seconds, nearly eight hours faster than the previous mark set a year ago by his son Dallas, who also finished Tuesday — the runner-up in this year’s Iditarod.

Reuter, who has completed numerous 200- and 300-mile sled dog races in Alaska and the Yukon, hopes to finish in about 11 days.

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