Four-time winner Rick Swenson regained the lead Wednesday in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, while a musher miles behind him was trying to scare off curious buffaloes. Lavon Barve and three-time champion Susan Butcher were minutes behind Swenson about a third of the way through the 1,158-mile race from Anchorage to Nome. ``There's a lot of strong teams this year,'' said Butcher, warning that there's still plenty of time for surprises. ``We've got a long way to go yet.'' Swenson led the race Monday topping the Alaska Range at 3,500-foot Rainy Pass, but was overtaken by defending champion Joe Runyan at Rohn on Tuesday. He had a cut on his face and a cracked plastic runner on his sled as he mushed away from this Athabascan Indian village of 110 people at Iditarod milepost 367. Swenson said the damage wouldn't stop him from reaching McGrath, the next checkpoint 48 miles from here, where he either would repair the runner or change sleds. Behind Swenson on the trail through Farewell Burn, eighth-place racer Tim Osmar of Clam Gulch fired shots into the air to clear the trail of several buffaloes. The Iditarod Trail is named for a tiny ghost town it passes through. The race commemorates the 1925 emergency delivery by relay dog teams of life-saving diphtheria serum to Nome. Butcher won the race in 1986, 1987 and 1988 and took second place last year. Swenson won in 1977, 1979, 1981 and 1982. He has finished in the top 10 every year since 1973, when the Iditarod was started.
