SHAKTOOLIK, Alaska -- Martin Buser pushed through wind gusts to 48 mph along the coast of Norton Sound on Sunday and was moving at a record pace in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Buser, a three-time race winner, made the 42-mile run from Unalakleet in five hours and 25 minutes and lost little ground to second-place musher Ramy Brooks, who covered the trail eight minutes faster.

At Unalakleet, Buser was three hours ahead of the pace set by Montana musher Doug Swingley in 2000, when he finished the 1,100-miles race in just more than nine days.

Buser, the Swiss-born musher from Big Lake, had 12 dogs in his team at Shaktoolik. Brook, who lives Healy, had nine dogs in his team.

John Baker of Kotzebue was running third. He left Unalakleet at 12:19 p.m., six hours behind the leader. Dee Dee Jonrowe of Willow was out less than an hour later, at 1:14 p.m., after resting just a little more than four hours.

Baker has a dozen dogs in his team. Jonrowe has just eight left.

Behind the leaders is a tight pack of four mushers who arrived in a 2½-hour span. Vern Halter of Willow was fifth into Unalakleet, arriving at 12:05 p.m., roughly three hours behind Jonrowe. Just a minute behind Halter was Jon Little of Kasilof.

Charlie Boulding of Manley, arrived at 1:15 p.m., followed by Ramey Smyth at 2:35.

Jerry Riley, the 65-year-old Nenana musher, was in ninth place, but had not arrived in Unalakleet. He was followed by three-time champion Jeff King and Mitch Seavey.

Harald Tunheim of Norway was the first non-Alaskan, running in 12th place.

Buser was resting in Shaktoolik, 219 miles from the finish in Nome. The winning musher should finish sometime Tuesday.

Five of the 64 mushers who started the race had scratched by Sunday afternoon. The rest were on the trail, stretched out from Buser in Shaktoolik to rookie Rick Horstman in Ophir. Swingley, the defending champion who declared earlier that he was touring, not racing, was out of Cripple, in 46th place.