Yukon Quest's midway mark led by Whitehorse musher

The frontrunners in the Yukon Quest International Sled-Dog Race are resting in Dawson City, Yukon, after they began arriving at the race's halfway point on Wednesday night.

Hans Gatt of Whitehorse arrived at the Dawson City checkpoint at 6:02 p.m. PT, making him the frontrunner in the 1,600-kilometre race from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Whitehorse.

A tired and frustrated-looking Gatt immediately took his dogs to camp to bed down for the night.

Gatt said it took him four hours to run the first 20 kilometres out of the Forty Mile checkpoint.

"He couldn't find the trail there. To search for the trail, he said he lost at least a half hour," William Kleedhen, a former Yukon Quest competitor who has been watching this year's race, told CBC News.

Gatt wins four ounces of gold for being the first team to reach Dawson City.

Four-time Yukon Quest champion Lance Mackey of Fairbanks arrived nearly three hours after Gatt did, followed soon after by Hugh Neff of Annie Lake, Yukon.

Also in Dawson City as of Thursday morning are Alaskan mushers Zack Steer, Ken Anderson, Brent Sass, Sonny Lindner and Abbie West.

All mushers who arrive in Dawson City must stay for a mandatory 36-hour layover.

That means Gatt, as the frontrunner, will leave the checkpoint first on Friday at 6:35 a.m.

Kleedhen said this year's Yukon Quest, which began Feb. 6, is still anyone's race.

"It's still close," he said. "I mean, [Gatt being] a couple of hours ahead in Dawson, it's nice, but the race is long."

To date, all 24 teams in this year's race are still in the running.