Her face weather worn, her body clearly fatigued, Aily Zirkle from Two Rivers reached the Bering Sea coast at the lead of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Sunday, but there were good reasons to wonder how much longer she could hang on at the front.Days at the front of The Last Great Race were beginning to show their toll on the former Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race champion. Since she jumped to the front of the pack between Galena and Nulato on the Yukon River, Zirkle and her team have dictated the pace of the 1,000-mile race to Nome. They led the string of contenders up the frozen, snow-covered Yukon River and over the Kaltag Portage, a distance of 85 miles.Read more here: http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/new-iditarod-leader-weary-mushers-flow-out-unalakleet
