WYOMING – Lina Streeper maintained her #1 position today with an overall elapsed time of 1:40:42. Anny Malo was just a minute behind in 2nd, followed by a fading Érick Laforce. Dave Torgerson and Tommy Bird placed fourth and fifth.

All five top teams finishing within 10 minutes of each other in Stage 5 of the 24th running of the Pedigree Stage Stop Race.

“The sun was out with little to no wind and the trails were hard and fast for the start of the Lander leg this morning. Quite a crowd gathered at Bruce’s Bridge up Sinks Canyon to enjoy this spectacular winter day and cheer the mushers,” said race commentator Jerry Bath.

To cover the hilly terrain—the 27-mile course included at least 9 miles of climbing—most mushers opted for the full 10 dogs. Mushers can choose to run 8, 9, or 10 dogs, maximum.

“The location of the start can be a little intimidating but looks much worse than it really is,” Bath added. “Actually, it’s a great warm-up as the first 4.9 miles are a gradual climb and are very ‘lope-able.’”

Streeper broadened her lead yesterday, tacking another minute onto the gap between her and Malo, who is running in 2nd. Malo in turn pulled away from Laforce. Alix Crittenden fell off the pace a bit yesterday, but managed to edge out Emilie Entrikin to maintain fourth place, overall. Rachel Courtney ceded her sixth place overall to Jeff Conn by mere seconds.

Rising a spot or more yesterday were Dave Torgerson; Tommy Bird, Justin Fortier, and Chris Adkins.

From Lander, Wyoming it’s on to Driggs, Idaho for the next stage on Friday.