Aaron Burmeister at the 2018 Start With Fellow Musher John Baker

Aaron Burmeister of Nome was greeted by family and friends at the Burled Arch early on Thursday morning at 00:34.  His children, who were really up past their bedtime, stood in the chute shouting, “Hurry up Daddy!”  On the other end of Front Street, Aaron might have been saying, “Hurry up Doggies, I want to see my family.”

Aaron’s first Iditarod start was in 1994.  Since then he’s had 18 starts and 18 finishes.  He’s finished five races in the top ten.  His best finish came in 2015 as third place on the Fairbanks to Nome route.  His time that year was 8 days, 23 hours and 47 minutes.  His time in 2019 was 10 days, 9 hours and 34 minutes.  Aaron finished with 9 dogs in harness.  His time in from Safety to Nome was 3 hours and 48 minutes.

Aaron says he has been racing for 25 years and has been raising dogs his entire life. Burmeister’s father, Richard ran Iditarod in 1979 and again in 1982.  His race took twenty-two days both years and he finished in 41st place both years.  Aaron’s brother Noah is also an Iditarod veteran, starting and completing four races with a best finish of 11th place in the 2016 race.

Over his Iditarod career, Aaron has been honored by his fellow mushers in receiving the Sportsmanship Award and the Most Inspirational Musher Award.  He’s also received the Herbie Nayokpuk Award as well as awards for being first to McGrath, the halfway point, Kaltag and the Gold Coast.