The Latest: 3rd dog associated with Iditarod dies

Published Mar. 13, 2017 10:29 p.m. ET

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) The Latest on the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race (all times local):

6:20 p.m.

A third dog associated with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has died.

Race officials report a 3-year-old male named Groovey has died after being hit by a car in Anchorage.

The dog had been dropped from the team of Kotzebue musher John Baker and returned to Anchorage. Officials say the dog was released in good condition Saturday to a dog handler.

But later Saturday, Groovey got loose and was reported missing. His body was found Sunday after apparently being hit by a car in east Anchorage.

Two dogs died last week, including a 2-year-old male named Smoke who died while being flown back to Anchorage from a checkpoint. A necropsy showed signs the dog suffered from hyperthermia, but further tests were being run.

The other dog, another 2-year-old male named Deacon, died near the checkpoint in Galena. A necropsy found abnormalities but not the cause of death.

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8 a.m.

Race leader and two-time champion Mitch Seavey has reached the village of Koyuk (KOY-uk) in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

The Seward, Alaska musher arrived at 7:24 a.m. Monday with 12 dogs.

Koyuk is on Norton Sound on Alaska's Bering Sea Coast. The village is 171 miles from the finish line in Nome.

Seavey rested in Shaktoolik for five hours and 10 minutes. He left Shaktoolik (shak-TOO-lik) at 2:14 a.m. and covered the 58-mile leg to Koyuk in five hours, 10 minutes, averaging nearly 9.7 mph.

Seavey's son and last year's champion, Dallas Seavey, is in second place. He reached Shaktoolik at 1:35 a.m. Monday, rested 17 minutes and left at 1:52 a.m.

Norway's Joar Lefseth Ulsom and Nicolas Petit of Girdwood, Alaska, also have left Shaktoolik for Koyuk.