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Tom Thurston made it to the 479-person town of McGrath at about 1 a.m. Alaskan Standard Time on Thursday morning, as he continues to compete in the Iditarod dogsled race.

The competitor, based in Oak Creek, made the trip from Nikolai, Alaska, in 6 hours, 37 minutes.

The next checkpoint for Thurston is the 18-mile route to Takotna. From there, it's a 25-mile trek to Ophir.

It usually takes mushers two to three hours to get from McGrath to Takotna. It's recommended this stage be done at night or on cloudy days so the trail has a chance to firm up. Most of the trail is on well-traveled snowmobile trail. On hot days, it can become sticky and slow.

Thurston remained in 53rd place Thursday.

The 37th annual Iditarod dogsled race began Saturday and covers 1,150 miles from Anchorage in southern Alaska to Nome, a northern Alaskan town looking out on the Bearing Sea. The race follows a trail first blazed in 1925, when mushers hauled in medicine to treat a diphtheria outbreak in Nome. This year, 68 different teams are signed up to race.

Although the winners likely will finish in between nine and 10 days, Thurston has said from the start that he will be racing with a team of young dogs and doesn't plan to push with the leaders.

5th annual Coureur des Bois race starts Saturday

The deepest field in the fifth annual North Routt Coureur des Bois begins competition at 8 a.m. Saturday.

The event starts with the 90-kilometer race at 8 a.m. and the 45-kilometer race at 8:30 a.m.

Race Director Dan Smilkstein said the best places for spectators to watch are at the Steamboat Lake Visitors Center early in the race and at Steamboat Lake Outfitters, where racers finish.

Smilkstein said he expects the first finishers in the 45-kilometer race to cross the finish line at about 11:30 a.m. The top 90-kilometer finishers will cross at about 2 p.m.

In addition to several returning champions, this year's event includes four former Olympians.

Steamboat Springs sports set for big home weekend

The Steamboat Springs High School girls tennis team, girls soccer team and boys lacrosse team play at home Saturday.

The tennis team - which also hosts Aspen at 4 p.m. today at The Tennis Center at Steamboat Springs - welcomes Boulder for a noon showdown Saturday.

The soccer team plays Glenwood Springs at 12:15 p.m. Saturday at Gardner Field, where the boys lacrosse team welcomes rival Summit for a 3 p.m. game.

The baseball team plays at the Hotchkiss Tournament today and Saturday. Steamboat will play Bayfield today and Monte Vista and Battle Mountain on Saturday.

"We're going to give it everything we've got," Steamboat baseball manager Dave Roy said. "We're going to be more aggressive defensively and take it to whoever we're playing."