Defending Iditarod champion Joe Runyan was the...

Defending Iditarod champion Joe Runyan was the first to reach Ophir, Alaska, after a moose knocked four-time winner Rick Swenson out of the lead in the Alaskan dog-sled races.

Runyan reached Ophir, a Gold Rush-era ghost town on the Innoko River 476 miles from Anchorage, 36 minutes ahead of Lavon Barve and 44 minutes ahead of Martin Buser.

Swenson had left McGrath, a checkpoint 61 miles back on the trail, several hours before the others but turned around after a run-in with the moose, which trampled some of his dogs.

A sled dog injured in the encounter was checked by a veterinarian who pronounced it fit to go on.