ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Musher DeeDee Jonrowe, the leading woman in the famed Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, dropped out of the competition on Saturday after her dogs refused to run along a stretch of the frozen Yukon River. Montana musher Doug Swingley, the 1995 winner and the only non-Alaskan ever to win the Iditarod, widened his lead over the remaining 48 other mushers late on Saturday. He became the first competitor to arrive in Kaltag, an Athabaskan Indian village 1,290 km into the 1,868 km race course from Anchorage to Nome. This was the first time in her 17-year Iditarod career that Jonrowe dropped out of the race. She became the seventh musher to drop out. The musher from Willow, Alaska, has been among the top five finishers in eight of the past 10 years, has placed second twice and is one of the most popular Iditarod competitors. The standstill occurred about 48 km outside of Grayling, a checkpoint 1,081 km into the race course. Jonrowe told Anchorage television station KTUU that she tried to coax her team onward after giving the dogs a long rest. "I cooked for them, I fed them, I played with them, I turned them loose," she told KTUU. KTUU reported that she even spent six hours walking in front of her team, but ultimately decided that her dogs did not want to continue. Jonrowe, who was near tears, said she had to drop out of the race for the good of her dogs. "I blame myself," she said. Race officials reported that both Jonrowe and her dogs were in good physical shape. Iditarod leader Swingley was ahead of three-time champion Martin Buser, five-time champion Rick Swenson and three-time champion Jeff King, none of whom were reported in Kaltag on Saturday night. If he is the first to reach the Nome finish line, Swingley will pocket a $54,000 prize, part of a total purse worth more than $450,000. Swingley holds the race speed record of nine days, two hours and 42 minutes.