DAWSON CITY - After a few false alarms, it finally happened. The first Yukon Quest musher arrived here late Tuesday night.

In addition to the cheers and applause from the enthusiastic crowd, Carcross-area resident William Kleedehn received the coveted four ounces of gold, given to the first musher to make it to Dawson.

"I just paced things differently," he said during a brief media scrum just before putting the team to bed. "I was running in order to win the race, not to be first in Dawson."

Kleedehn's arrival ahead of Alaska musher Jon Little was a surprise to many in the crowd. Little was reported the frontrunner on King Solomon's Dome around 6:30 p.m.

Officials estimated the first musher could arrive in Dawson as early as 8:30 p.m., but also said it could be as late as 10:30 p.m.

It was just after 10 p.m. when someone in the crowd spotted Kleedehn's head lamp, shouting out, "Here he comes!"

Kleedehn's dogs were in fine form, and some looked like they had a smile on their faces while they waited patiently to be signed in.

Just two short minutes after Kleedehn pulled in, Little arrived. His team of dogs also looked good as they stood wagging their tails in the chute.

Showing up around 11:15 p.m. was Hugh Neff, who stopped for reporters to comment on the run into Dawson.

In the media scrum, Neff said he might take some of his bigger dogs out because they are having trouble keeping up with smaller ones, who are running really fast.

He said he was travelling a lot with Kleedehn on the way to Dawson and was happy about him being first to arrive in Dawson.

"That's awesome," he said. "Nothing personal to Jon, but William and I are good buddies."

It is believed that Kleedehn passed Little just two kilometres outside of Dawson on the Klondike River.

Mushers will take a 36-hour layover in Dawson before resuming their run into Fairbanks.

Little, despite being edged out by Kleedehn into Dawson, is still ahead of him in the race by 16 minutes.

He will be eligible to leave Dawson at 10:50 a.m. Thursday, while Kleedehn cannot leave before 11:06 a.m. Neff, meanwhile, is not too far off and can resume racing at 11:33 a.m. Thursday.

To keep the competition fair, the musher who has the final position at the start line is permitted to leave 36 hours after arriving in Dawson.

Other mushers, however, are subjected to an additional wait period in accordance to their starting position.

Since mushers began in three-minute intervals in Whitehorse, that time is added onto their 36-hour time of departure from Dawson.

Wayne Hall, who left in the 28th spot, has three minutes added onto his time, while Didier Moggia, who left in 27th place in Whitehorse, cannot leave for 36:06.

Other mushers to make it to Dawson as of 10 a.m. today include Hans Gatt, Sebastian Schnuelle, Brent Sass, Michelle Phillips, Warren Palfrey and Martin Buser.

"It was good," Phillips said about her run into Dawson.

So far in the race, two mushers have scratched, including Dawson's Jean-denis Britten and most recently Jerry Joinson, who scratched Tuesday evening.

Race marshall Doug Grilliot refused to comment Tuesday on why Britten withdrew and was not available for questioning about Joinson.

Joinson, who resides in Fort St. James, B.C., officially withdrew upon returning to the Pelly Crossing checkpoint.