Musher Details

2009 Iditarod » Mushers » Gerry Willomitzer

Gerry Willomitzer

Bib Number: 14
Hometown: Whitehorse, YT, CANADA
Website:


Biography

Gerry Willomitzer, 48, was born and raised in Bavaria, Germany. He said, “I left Germany in 1996 to look for greener pastures , which turned out to be white most of the time.” He has been a log building contractor for the last 12 years. He began mushing in 1996 and says meeting Rick Swenson and Susan Butcher in Wyoming in 1997 is what started him thinking about running the Iditarod. Gerry says, “After a few year’s absence from Iditarod, it’s time to come back. I’ve raised a completely new generation of dogs and have been ‘mildly’ racing them the last few years. After a decade or so in distance racing we tried something new and raced at the Wyoming State Stop in 2016, where speeds are a bit higher and nights are spent in warm beds. Not a bad experience at all! Now it’s time to travel longer again for these dogs, and I’d like to think of the 2018 Iditarod as my rookie run, with the advantage of having seen it a few times before. The dogs are certainly rookies. For myself, I hope to have advanced a bit from my rookie year in 2007, so it may just be a good experience if I can be patient and give the dogs room to grow.” Gerry and his wife, Darcy Olesen are parents on Leo, age 3. Gerry says he enjoys “logs and dogs (& old cars)!”

Sponsors

Ibex Services
Skookum Asphalt Ltd.
Great River Journey
Eldorado Logwork & Construction
49er Feed

Sportees Active Wear
Dee Larson
Larry “Cowboy” Smith
Peter Butteri & Amy Wright


2009 Standings

Checkpoint Time In Dogs In Time Out Dogs Out Rest Time Previous Layover Status Distance
Enroute Time Speed (mph) 8hr 24hr
Anchorage 3/07 10:28:00 12
Willow 3/08 14:24:00 16
Yentna 3/08 18:24:00 16 3/08 18:30:00 16 0h 6m 4h 0m 16.50 66
Skwentna 3/08 23:43:00 16 3/08 23:53:00 16 0h 10m 5h 13m 6.52 34
Finger Lake 3/09 09:53:00 16 3/09 10:20:00 16 0h 27m 10h 0m 4.50 45
Rainy Pass 3/09 13:51:00 16 3/09 19:00:00 16 5h 9m 3h 31m 8.53 30
Rohn 3/09 23:56:00 16 3/10 00:14:00 15 0h 18m 4h 56m 9.73 48
Nikolai 3/10 16:07:00 15 3/10 22:30:00 15 6h 23m 15h 53m 4.72 75
McGrath 3/11 05:26:00 15 3/12 07:15:00 15 25h 49m 6h 56m 7.79 ✔ 54
Takotna 3/12 09:31:00 15 3/12 09:33:00 15 0h 2m 2h 16m 7.94 ✔ 18
Ophir 3/12 12:24:00 15 3/12 16:45:00 15 4h 21m 2h 51m 8.77 ✔ 25
Iditarod 3/13 09:28:00 15 3/13 10:20:00 13 0h 52m 16h 43m 5.38 ✔ 90
Shageluk 3/13 22:41:00 13 3/14 04:30:00 13 5h 49m 12h 21m 5.26 ✔ 65
Anvik 3/14 07:38:00 13 3/14 07:43:00 13 0h 5m 3h 8m 7.98 ✔ 25
Grayling 3/14 10:10:00 13 3/14 16:02:00 12 5h 52m 2h 27m 7.35 ✔ 18
Eagle Island 3/15 00:54:00 12 3/15 12:54:00 11 12h 0m 8h 52m 6.77 ✔ ✔ 60
Kaltag 3/16 01:49:00 11 3/16 11:14:00 11 9h 25m 12h 55m 5.42 ✔ ✔ 70
Unalakleet 3/17 01:46:00 11 3/17 09:11:00 11 7h 25m 14h 32m 6.19 ✔ ✔ 90
Shaktoolik 3/17 15:08:00 11 3/18 08:21:00 11 17h 13m 5h 57m 6.72 ✔ ✔ 40
Koyuk 3/18 14:07:00 11 3/18 19:59:00 11 5h 52m 5h 46m 10.06 ✔ ✔ 58
Elim 3/19 02:22:00 11 3/19 07:16:00 11 4h 54m 6h 23m 7.52 ✔ ✔ 48
White Mountain 3/19 13:20:00 11 3/19 21:23:00 11 8h 3m 6h 4m 7.58 ✔ ✔ 46
Safety 3/20 03:56:00 11 3/20 04:07:00 10 0h 11m 6h 33m 8.40 ✔ ✔ 55
Nome 3/20 07:12:35 10 3h 5m 7.14 ✔ ✔ 22