Reigning champ leads Iditarod in final push to Nome

NOME, Alaska — Reigning Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Dallas Seavey leads the 2016 race as mushers move up the Bering Sea coast.

Seavey reached the village of Elim at 4:09 a.m. Monday, stayed two minutes, and headed north with nine dogs in harness.

He has a 26-minute lead over Brent Sass, who reached Elim just before 4:30 a.m., stayed eight minutes and left with 13 dogs at 4:37 a.m.

Seavey’s father, former champion Mitch Seavey, was three minutes behind Sass. He left Elim at 4:40 a.m.

Aliy Zirkle, one of two mushers whose teams were hit by a snowmobile Saturday morning, is in fourth.

Teams must take a mandatory eight-hour rest stop at the village of White Mountain but could reach the finish line at Nome by Tuesday morning.