46°

Nine teams crossed the finish line on Thursday, bringing to 11 the total teams that had completed the 1,026-mile sled dog race from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Whitehorse.

Gatt, of Atlin, British Columbia, won the race on Wednesday morning when he crossed the finish line at 6:54 a.m. Yukon time (5:54 a.m. Alaska time) to win his third straight championship. Zack Steer of Sheep Mountain, Alaska, a Yukon Quest rookie but a veteran musher, was the only other to finish on Wednesday when he crossed the finish line at 3:32 p.m. Yukon time.

The group was led by David Dalton of Healy, Alaska, who took third place at 12:48 a.m. Yukon time on Thursday. Dalton, whose best finish in past Yukon Quests was seventh place, finished with all 14 of the dogs he started with and he attributed that to a new type of harness that minimizes injuries. Most mushers will drop a few injured, sick or slow dogs at checkpoints along the trail and it's rare for a musher to finish with all 14 dogs still in the team.

"Arriving in Eagle (Alaska), I realized that not only could we finish well, but that all my dogs were looking very good," Dalton said via a press release on the Yukon Quest's Web site. "This has been my easiest Yukon Quest so far."

Dalton was followed by Peter Ledwidge of Dawson City, Yukon Territory, who finished at 6:51 a.m. Yukon time to take fourth place. Frank Turner of Whitehorse, who holds the course record from his 1995 championship, took fifth place at 7:08 a.m. Turner is the only musher to have run in all 21 Yukon Quest races.

Dan Kaduce of Chatanika, Alaska, took sixth place when he finished at 8:06 a.m., while two-time winner John Schandelmeier of Paxson, Alaska, finished seventh at 1:58 p.m. Michelle Phillips of Tagish, Yukon Territory, took eighth place at 3:46 p.m., followed by Tagish neighbor Thomas Tetz in ninth place three minutes later. Tetz was driving a team owned by Juneau musher Deborah Bicknell, who has a training camp in Tagish.

Also finishing on Thursday were Sebastian Schnuelle of Whitehorse, who finished 10th at 4:41 p.m., and Kelley Griffin of Wasilla, Alaska, who took 11th place at 8:39 p.m.

For race updates, go to the Yukon Quest's Web site at http://www.yukonquest.com.