Iditarod elders, Dan Seavey and Raine Hall Rawlins worked from the ground floor to establish the race, shaping it to be the renowned event it is today. Seavey and Rawlins passed away in the early days of May 2025. The Iditarod nation will be forever grateful for the energy, leadership and insight they provided to the fledgling race. Both gave generously of their time and talents, working hand in hand with Joe Redington, SR. and a large number of inspired volunteers during the early years of Iditarod.
Dan Seavey was born and raised in the Land of 10,000 Lakes – Minnesota. While growing up, he listened to radio broadcasts of the adventures of Sargent Preston of the Yukon. Preston and his famous malemute lead dog, Yukon King, helped injured trappers, tracked down smugglers and saved remote cabin dwellers from the perils of the great frontier. Those stories were entertainment for the young Seavey, but they also planted the idea of someday running dogs and likely changed the course of his life and that of his descendants.
In 1963, Seavey took a job teaching history in Seward. Dan and his wife Shirley moved the family to Alaska. In his race bio for 2012, Seavey called himself a “hard-core Iditarod junkie.” His teaching assignment in Seward directed him to the historic trail and awakened his interest in the trail. As he learned more about the importance of the trail in Alaska’s early development, he found himself taking an active role not only in the sport of mushing but in the development of the Iditarod. Seavey sat with Joe Redington, SR. and others to plan the race and determine the trail. He helped in staging the first race in 1973 and ran the first two races.
With his love for sled dogs and passion for history of the last frontier, Seavey’s Iditarod involvement evolved into the role of race ambassador. In his own words from Faces of Iditarod, “I do a lot of talking and of course I published a book on Iditarod, and in the process of selling that I do a lot of hype for the race and for the trail and what have you. So I guess ambassador work is what you might call it.” In his book, The First Great Race, Seavey provides a behind the scenes look at establishing the race and also running the race. It was an adventure/camping expedition that many believed was impossible yet 34 teams took on the challenge of the first Iditarod.
Grandpa Dan has completed 5 Iditarod runs. In 1973 he claimed 3rd place with a time of 20 days, 14 hours and 35 minutes behind Champion Dick Wilmarth and runner-up Bobby Vent. Seavey went again in 1974 to claim 5th place with a time of 22 days, 11 hours and 43 minutes. Dan says those were the only two years he was actually “racing.” But in 1997, Seavey shaved 11 days of his previous finish taking 35th place in 13 days, 4 hours and 3 minutes. In 2001 there was a Seavey family sandwich at the burled arch in Nome. Mitch claiming 42nd place, Dan earned 44th while Danny finished 43rd between his father and grandfather. Mitch Seavey is a three time Iditarod champion.
On his fifth and final Iditarod run In 2012, Seavey wore bib #100 as he traversed the Iditarod Trail to commemorate its 100th anniversary. At the age of 74, Grandpa Dan claimed 50th place in 13 days, 19 hours and 10 minutes but at the front of the pack history was made a few days earlier by a younger Seavey. Grandson Dallas, at the age of 26, become the youngest musher to win the Iditarod. With his 6th victory twelve years later in 2024, Dallas surpassed five-time champion Rick Swenson who held the honor for most Iditarod wins since 1991.
Raine Hall Rawlins didn’t run the race as Dan did, but she “ran” the race as the first executive director beginning around 1976. In her words recorded by Jeff Schultz in Faces of Iditarod, “Instead of actually running the Iditarod behind a dog team, I ran it from behind a desk. I did that the late seventies and early eighties. I was the executive director.”
Raine was born in New York then moved to Massachusetts. At the age of 17 she went to Alaska to cook for a season on a fishing boat. Then in the early 1970’s she moved to Alaska and cooked at the Farewell Lake Lodge located on the Iditarod Trail. She learned about the race form the locals and watched from the sidelines for the first couple of years. Raine got to know ‘75 Iditarod champion Emmett Peters. She moved to Ruby to handle Emmett’s dogs, learn the sport and hopefully someday run the Iditarod.
Raine was a class act. Gracious and strong willed, she loved the out of doors and thrived on adventure. She worked as a film location scout and manager finding the perfect remote locations to shoot and the perfect people in those remote locations to fill parts. Her business was called Extreme Locations. Through her connections in the film industry she was instrumental in bringing the Iditarod into homes through national television coverage.
While still in Ruby, Raine served on Iditarod’s Board of Directors. Recognizing her passion for the race and leadership skills, Joe Redington, SR. persuaded Raine to move to Wasilla where she served as office manager, a paid position. The office was housed in a space located on the second floor of Teeland’s Country Store. Teeland’s is now a restaurant and patrons can take sandwiches to the second floor and imagine the hustle and bustle of the early office, the challenges Raine encountered and all the Iditarod personalities that visited the office for one reason or another.
As the first executive director for the race, Raine’s responsibilities were endless and diverse. Yet she found time to be hands on and enjoyed being on the trail, in the checkpoints, acting as a checker. Passionate about the race and known as a go-getter, she set to work promoting the Iditarod, securing sponsors and among other things getting Joe organized. During her tenure she created, edited, published and distributed the Iditarod Runner, the membership’s newsletter which was chocked full of Iditarod happenings from along the trail and behind the scenes. Her contributions during the first ten years simply can’t be overstated.
More recently, Raine and others who worked tirelessly to establish the race went to work gathering stories about the first ten years of Iditarod. The Old Iditarod Gang, as they became known, assembled a book containing a plethora of amazing stories from the first ten years of the race. Most of the stories in Iditarod – the First Ten Years are firsthand accounts written by mushers, pilots, veterinarians, volunteers, reporters and photographers who lived and breathed Iditarod during the first decade while other stories were written by friends or family.
The anthology is 423 pages, weighs 6.5 pounds and contains photos and stories along with artwork by Jon VanZyle. It’s heavy duty Iditarod history, a must for race fans who wish to delve into the early years of the race and understand the dog people and their passion that fueled the birth of Iditarod. The anthology includes several pieces by Raine sharing her own mushing experiences and stories of others who played a role in the formative years. The stories she authored are evidence of her knowledge and profound passion for all things Iditarod. Members of the Old Iditarod Gang praise Raine for her leadership in the first years of the race and her leadership in compiling the anthology.
May Dan Seavey and Raine Hall Rawlins rest in peace. Thank you for your invaluable leadership in establishing the Last Great Race. Condolences to the family and friends of these selfless Iditarod icons.
