Hans Gatt and Kinvig, his lead-dog.

After he won 3-time in a row the race, Gatt may have thought he had set a record that would last long. But right after his record, Lance Mackey improved it by winning 4 Quests in a row. In the meantime, he also won 3 Iditarod in a row, becoming an undefeated winner of 7 ultra marathons in a row. Many thought he would win again this year. He was close to that. But Gatt had the same plan.

Two times during the race at key moments, Mackey was leading and Gatt passed him. The first was right before Dawson when he passed Mackey and Hugh Neff by cuutting 2 hours in his rest and arriving the first into Dawson, the halfwaypoint. And he did the same in the last part of the race. Mackey took the lead back soon after Dawson and it looked like he would keep it. But Neff and Gatt were always really close. And between the two last checkpoints Carmacks and Braeburn, Gatt passed both of them to arrive first in Braeburn. After the 8 hours mandatory rest he had to observe there, he left with a gap of 34 minutes on Mackey and 1 hour on Neff. None of them managed to catch up with him.

Hans Gatt congratulated by Hugh Neff (left) and Lance Mackey

For the first time since 2006, Lance Mackey is not the winner of an ultra-marathon (Iditarod / Yukon Quest), he entered. He is not unbeatable. Hans Gatt, who's dreaming about winning the Iditarod will enter the race this year with a real favorite status

After 1600 km of race, 1h3mn only separate the two leaders and Neff is only 2h43mn behind Gatt (2009 runner-up). This edition has been the fastest ever. The mushers said the trail has never been so good and the weather appropriate. The last trail record was set by Sebastian Schnuelle in 2009. In 2010, the top 6 mushers have beaten that record !!! Gatt has been 23 hours faster than Schnuelle.

Ken Anderson, La Grande Odyssée Savoie Mont Blanc 2006 runner-up, took the 5th place. Pierre-Antoine Heritier, who's been 17th for a long time, is now 21st. After a very good and steady first part to Dawson, he is now giving a lot of rest to his dogs. His goal is to finish the race and as he's getting closer and closer he doesn't want to take any risk. Pierre-Antoine has turned 45 a few days ago. Before the race, he wished as a present to still be in the race on his birthday. Happy Birthday Pierr-Antoine !!!

He and the 11 dogs remaining in his team have left Braeburn at 4:55 (Paris time) this morning (19th) and are on the last leg to Whitehorse. The accomplishment of Pierre-Antoine's dream is close. We'll keep you updated as soon as he arrives.

Pierre-Antoine Héritier and his dogs on the frozen Yukon

Photos: Sam Harrel/Newsminer - Team Héritier