Lance Mackey has powered back from a relatively lowly 15th place in the Iditarod to put himself right in contention for a fourth title.

The Fairbanks veteran has moved up 13 places over the last 24 hours and now sits second in the Last Great Race, 42 minutes behind the current leader Jeff King.

Hugh Neff and Mitch Seavey are also in hot pursuit in third and fourth respectively, as the race moves towards its halfway point.

Early pace-setter Hans Gatt is holding his own in ninth place, while familiar names Aily Zirkle, Sebastian Schnuelle, Sven Haltman, Ken Anderson and Sonny Lindner make up the rest of the top ten.

At the opposite end of the standings, it’s the end of the road for Karen Ramstead, who scratched last night (March 11th 2010) at the McGrath checkpoint.

There are now 63 of the original 71 teams left in the competition.

Rookies Newton Marshall and Emil Churchin are among the backmarkers according to the latest data from race officials.