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French Iditarod musher first to reach the Bering Sea coast

Published 8:30 am Sunday, March 10, 2019

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

French Iditarod musher first to reach the Bering Sea coast
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French Iditarod musher first to reach the Bering Sea coast
Kristy Berington waits on the Innoko River for her sister, Anna Berington, after they both left Shageluk, Alaska, during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Saturday, March 9, 2019. The winner is expected mid-week at the finish line in Nome. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

ANCHORAGE — Nicolas Petit is the first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race musher to reach Alaska’s Bering Sea coast.

The Frenchman pulled into the checkpoint at Unalakleet (YUN’-uh-lah-kleet) Sunday. He left the previous checkpoint with about a two-hour lead on defending champion Joar Ulsom of Norway and Alaskans Jessie Royer and Pete Kaiser.

Petit wins $1,500 in gold nuggets for being first to the wind-whipped coast.

After Unalakleet, mushers will work their way north up to the coast, eventually reaching the finish line in Nome after a thousand-mile (1,600-kilometer) trek across Alaska’s wilderness.

Cindy Abbott became the fourth musher to leave the race, citing personal health reasons and worries about taking care of her team. The Nebraska native and former Cal State-Fullerton professor who has climbed Mount Everest scratched late Saturday.

This is an Associated Press report.

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