March 8, 2010 (Finger Lake, Alaska) – Newton Marshall has passed through three checkpoints along the 2010 Iditarod trail. This is his second day of competition after departing from the start of the race in Willow, Alaska yesterday afternoon.

Marshall reached the first checkpoint, Yentna Station, in just under 4 hours yesterday at 18:10 PM AKST. He then rested for 25 minutes and continued on the trail along the Yentna River to the town of Skwentna.

Organizers were predicting this portion of the trail could be very fast. Marshall completed the stretch from Yentna Station to Skwentna in 3 hours and 7 minutes, arriving at 21:42 PM.

The team had a longer rest and left Skwentna at 2:55 AM this morning en route to Finger Lake. After a longer run of just over 6 hours, Marshall reached the Finger Lake checkpoint at 9:28 AM. Mushers have reported softer trail conditions and significant snowfall.

"We were going pretty slow," Marshall said at Finger Lake. "It just was too much snow and it was punchy. But it was a good run."

Once again Marshall took a rest and departed from the Finger Lake checkpoint at 15:00 PM with a full team of 16 dogs on the line. He is currently in 46th position in the standings.

JDT sponsors include: Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, Chukka Caribbean Adventures, WestJet Vacations, Alpine Aviation, Yukon Harley-Davidson, Annamaet Petfoods and the Jamaica Tourist Board.

***You can follow Newton’s progress by visiting us on facebook (facebook.com/JamaicaDogsledTeam) or following us on Twitter (twitter.com/JamaicaDogsled). To support the team by purchasing merchandise, to book a tour or to learn more about the team, visit the official website at jamaicadogsled.com.   Join us in Rootin’ for Newton all the way to Nome!***