March 11, 2010 (McGrath, Alaska) – Newton Marshall and his team took their mandatory 24 hour stopover at the McGrath checkpoint along the 2010 Iditarod trail. Marshall arrived at the checkpoint with 14 dogs on the line at 15:31 PM AKST yesterday after nearly six hours of travel time from the Nikolai checkpoint.

The terrain between Nikolai and McGrath is mainly flat. The McGrath checkpoint is located at the confluence of the Kuskokwim and Takotna rivers. Officials say trail conditions at this point from here are best for teams with speed. The trail now has a good firm base with light snow.

After talking to several other mushers, Newton learned that there was an overload of teams at the next checkpoint in Takotna. This wasn't leaving room for other teams to park and therefore Newton decided it was in his best interest to take the 24 hour rest in McGrath.

Mushers and their teams are facing record low temperatures. McGrath reported a temperature of 36 degrees below zero yesterday, which was a new record low for March 10th.

Marshall left the McGrath checkpoint shortly after his 24 hour stopover was complete with 14 dogs on the line. At the time of this release an official out time had not been posted. He is currently in 54th place in the standings. There are 64 competitors still participating in the 2010 Iditarod.