People, Places, or Dogs
Jimmy Lebling – For the past twenty years, Jimmy Lebling has been around mushing as a guide and handler. He’s been dreaming of the day he’d do Iditarod for all those years. He’s in Fairbanks for the restart of the 45th Iditarod. This is the third time in the history of the race the start has …
When Justin first came to Alaska in 2009 to take a job as a handler, he had absolutely no mushing experience. Eight short years later, he’s had a lifetime of experiences and challenges and his dream of running the Iditarod is before him. Justin met his wife, Jaimee Kinzer while they both worked as handlers …
Iditarod has always been 61 year old Paul Hansen’s dream. Hansen was born and raised in Denver , Colorado. He graduated from Colorado State University in 1979 with a degree in Environmental Health. The following year, he moved to Kotzebue to work for the Public Health Service/Maniilaq Association. Part of Paul’s job was to travel …
Dave Delcourt now calls Wasilla, AK home. Delcourt, age 29, was born and raised in Queensbury, New York. After graduating from the State University of New York at Cortland, Delcourt pursued seasonal employment in Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan and Alaska. Michigan is where he was first exposed to the sport of mushing as a winter tour …
Dr. Joe Carson is a 4th generation Alaskan. Given his long term familial ties to the Last Frontier, it just seems right that Joe should be standing on the runners of a dog sled and running a team of Alaskan Huskies in the Last Great Race™. He says, “There is nothing like being on the …
For the first time ever, the Hungarian flag will be displayed at the Iditarod start and finish to welcome Otto Balogh of Budapest, Hungry to Iditarod. Balogh is one of many who have found their way to mushing and the Iditarod through reading Jack London. Traveling has been as much of a childhood dream for …
Annie Kelley, the 2017 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail stood on the runners of a dog sled today and took a team of seven dogs down the trail. Not just any trail, Kelley ran on a short segment of the National Iditarod Historic Trail in Knik, Alaska and she has a certificate signed by Iditarod …
Twenty-nine year old Michael Baker was born in Denver, Colorado and about the time he turned twenty, he relocated to Boise, Idaho. His first experience with sled dogs came during the summer of 2009 when he worked on the Mendenhall Glacier as a dog handler for Gold Rush Dog Tours/Alaska Icefield Expeditions. Michael told the …
Ryan Anderson – At the age of 35, Ryan Anderson is living his childhood dream – Running Iditarod. He’s new to the Last Great Race™, but certainly not new to mushing. When Ryan set his sights on running dogs, the family acquired ten Alaskan Huskies and the rest is history. He’s been around the sport …
What does the first weekend in February have in common with the first weekend in March? Fans of long distance mushing don’t have to think twice to answer. It’s the start of the longest sled dog races on the North American Continent, the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod. On February 4th, twenty-eight days prior to …
