Buser tried a strategy early in the race that had many competitors shaking their heads, but he was hoping it would pay off by letting him get to Nome first.
On the seventh day of the race, Buser was first out of the checkpoint at Eagle Island, where a single cabin is the only dwelling in the otherwise uninhabited stretch of trail.
On the second day of the competitive portion of the race, Buser took his mandatory 24-hour rest at the checkpoint in Rohn after a blistering fast 170-mile run that had put him hours ahead of the other teams.
Zirkle and Seavey were especially close to Buser on the Kaltag approach early Saturday afternoon, with Zirkle running 9 miles behind him and Seavey a mile behind Zirkle.