Iditarod Musher Profile

Born in Winterthur, Switzerland in 1958, Martin became fascinated with sled dogs while still a teen. He came to Alaska in 1979 to enhance his knowledge of care and training of sled dogs. He began working and training with long-time Alaskan mushers Earl and Natalie Norris and ran his first Iditarod in 1980. Martin, wife Kathy Chapoton, a retired teacher, and sons Nikolai and Rohn (both named after Iditarod checkpoints), reside in Big Lake, Alaska, where the family owns and manages Happy Trails Kennel.  In the fall of 2009, Nikolai will be a senior at the University of Washington in Seattle and Rohn will be a sophomore at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.   Rohn completed the 2008 Iditarod. 

Martin spends a large percentage of his personal time speaking with youth on the humanitarian care of animals and the spirit of the Iditarod. A favorite celebrity of the children of Alaska, Martin treats them with surprise visits from his dogs and puppies during many of these appearances.

Martin runs the race each year with his dogs to test the success of their breeding, training and physical endurance. He regards his racers as true competitive athletes and prides his team on their longevity and spirit of competition. Says Martin, "I run the Iditarod to prove that my dogs, bred, trained and raced by Happy Trails Kennels, are the best amongst the world's long distance athletes."  Martin's 2002 team currently holds the record for the Fastest Iditarod by completing the race in 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and 2 seconds.  He has the more consecutive Iditarod finishes than any other musher, 24 from 1986 until 2009.  He also ran the race in a1980 and 1981.

As tribute to his treatment of his racers, Martin was awarded the coveted Leonhard Seppala Award in 1988, 1993, 1995 and again in 1997 for the most humanitarian care of his dogs. The award was named for the most famous Alaskan musher who ran the longest and most dangerous stretch of the 1925, 674-mile diphtheria serum run from Nenana to Nome, which saved hundreds of lives. 

Following Martin's 2002 Iditarod victory, the process for his becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States was completed under the burled monument.   He then turned around in Nome and made the trip from Nome to Big Lake with his family by snow machine.

Upon completion of the 2005 Iditarod after a woodworking accident 4 days prior to the race start resulting in the amputation of a part of his finger; he was awarded both the Sportsmanship and Most Inspirational Awards by his fellow mushers.

Martin is an honorary member of Rotary and the Explorer's Club. His hobbies are carpentry and woodturning. When not working with dogs, he spends most of his time building a new, smaller, retirement home.

In the summer, Martin and his family give tours of their working kennel.  The tour begins with a DVD trip from Anchorage to Nome narrated by Buser and includes his unique anecdotal stories gathered over 23 Iditarods.  Visitors are offered a glimpse of a mock up of the Cripple Checkpoint complete with campfire and wall tent.  Veterinary and dog care topics are discussed and of course, there's the cuddling of puppies.  The tour ends with a riotous symphony of dogs barking as a team is hooked up and taken on a demo run to show folks the dogs in action.

Sprocketheads, LLC produced a DVD featuring the unique lifestyle made possible by training and racing sled dogs. The DVD captures a sled dog's life from puppyhood to racing and Martin's interaction with his athletic friends.

Martin is currently the musher with the most consecutive Iditarod finishes, 24 races completed in row, 26 total finishes.