...frontrunner Paul Gebhardt of Kasilof, Ramy Brooks of Healy and Vern Halter of Willow. ''I do it here because I wouldn't think...after year they're like old friends,'' she said. Vern Halter of Willow, who finished third in last year's Iditarod...

...frontrunner Paul Gebhardt of Kasilof, Ramy Brooks of Healy and Vern Halter of Willow. ''I do it here because I wouldn't think...after year they're like old friends,'' she said. Vern Halter of Willow, who finished third in last year's Iditarod...

...England, said he was running his first Iditarod to fulfill a boyhood dream. He was a handler last year for musher Vern Halter of Willow who came in third. He and his then-fiancee learned the ropes while living in a trailer Halter owned that...

...Swenson from Two Rivers, the Iditarod's only five-time champion, was running ninth, leaving Rohn at 9:03 p.m. Vern Halter, another perennial front-runner from Willow, was tenth, checking out at 9:13. The next checkpoint is the community...

...supplies rather than having them waiting at a checkpoint as in the T-200. This year 17 mushers have signed up including Vern Halter, an Iditarod veteran from Willow, and Jack Berry, a Yukon Quest veteran from Homer. Four mushers also have signed...

...had 10 dogs in his team, while Jonrowe had just eight left. Behind the leaders was a tight pack of four mushers. Vern Halter of Willow was fifth out of Unalakleet, leaving at 4:54 p.m., more than three and a half hours after Jonrowe hit...

...solid fourth place, pulling out of Koyuk at 9:24 a.m. But she was down to seven dogs. Jon Little of Kasilof and Vern Halter of Willow were running practically neck to neck. Little initially held a sliver of a lead over Halter, pulling out...