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Aily Zirkle Snags Lead as Snowstorm Hits Iditarod Trail

March 6, 2012
Editor and/or Contributors

With a winter storm warning posted for the upper Kukskokwim River valley, former Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race champion Aily Zirkle from Two Rivers in the Alaska Interior Monday night sped through the Rohn checkpoint and dashed out onto the trail to Nikolai to grab the lead in the 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.The move was reminiscent of one of the best known moments in Iditarod history: Libby Riddles’ drive into a Bering Sea storm in 1985. Behind Riddles that year, the rest of the field waited for better weather, but by the time it arrived, Riddles had built a lead that couldn’t be overcome. Though her team was fading near the end as others closed, she went on to become the first woman to win what has been called The Last Great Race. Read more here: http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/aily-zirkle-snags-lead-snowstorm-hits-iditarod-trail