Eight hours after the PenAir Spirit of Alaska award was presented, thirty more teams have made their way into the checkpoint of McGrath. John Baker followed Aliy Zirkle by about half an hour. Baker, Zirkle and nearly the entire front half of the field continued right on to Takotna, 18 miles up the trail. It’s likely that most will take their twenty-four hour rest in the little village of fifty-five residents. Takotna, known for its delicious abundant meals and wide variety of pies has been called the friendliest little checkpoint on the Iditarod Trail. In the middle of the race, father and son, Martin and Rohn Buser came into McGrath at 0328 and 0438 respectively, spent a couple of hours then took off. Mushers in the second half of the pack are likely to take their long rest in McGrath as parking space as well as peace and quiet is limited in Takotna.