John Stetson and Ryan Anderson are No. 1 and No. 2 in a very close John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon as they entered the Finland checkpoint.
The two mushers are separated by only five minutes, according to projections from race officials.
"That sucks; I'd like it to be about two hours," Stetson joked.
Stetson of Duluth arrived at 1:20 p.m. today with 10 dogs. Ryan Anderson of Ray, Minn., entered at 2:12 p.m. with nine dogs.
Stetson, winner of the 2005 and 2006 Beargrease mid-distance races, has 11 hours and 15 minutes of rest time remaining, while Ryan Anderson, who won the 2001 mid-distance, has 10:28, as of 3:30 p.m.
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Both mushers have to take a mandatory six-hour rest at Highway 2, and if they use all of their necessary rest time at Finland, they are separated by five minutes.
"There is a lot of time left in this race," said Stetson, who is using the race as a qualifier for Alaska's Iditarod, which starts March 1.
Each musher must take 32 hours of rest during the race.
