Photos: Iditarod frontrunners kick it into Koyuk

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Dallas Seavey looks back at Aaron Burmeister, whom he had just passed, as they head into the Koyuk checkpoint on Monday, March 16, 2015.

KOYUK -- Defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Dallas Seavey clung to his lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Monday as soft, punchy snow on the trail across Norton Bay slowed what had been a blistering run toward Nome.

When Seavey, the 27-year-old two-time winner from Willow, pulled in here just in front of 39-year-old Aaron Burmeister from Nome, he reported struggling across the bay through 6 to 18 inches of sugary snow.

"Nothing to it," he said. "It's like air. It's like running in a million plastic pellets."

He described his team as almost swimming across the snow.

A Seavey team that had been averaging 8 to 10 mph along the Bering Sea coast slowed to less than 7 mph. Despite that, he was about an hour and 45 minutes faster than Burmeister on the 50-mile run.

READ MORE: Dallas Seavey finishes snowy slog across Norton Sound with slim lead