Justin Stielstra in Anchorage

Rookie Justin Stielstra has taken his required 8-hour Yukjon River rest and is on the trail between Tanana and Ruby. Justin departed just past 22:00 last evening for the 120 mile run. Stielstra’s time in from Manley, a distance of sixty-six miles was 8 hrs and 16 min. He travelled at a speed of 7.98 miles an hour. Justin is running a team from the UP of Michigan.

After earning a degree in Outdoor Recreation and Management from the Northern Michigan University, Justin started helping his uncle with training his race team. Justin’s uncle is Iditarod veteran Ed Stielstra who along with his wife, Tasha, owns and operates Nature’s Kennel in McMillan, Michigan. Justin fell in love with sled dogs and racing.

For his next step toward Iditarod, Justin Moved to Alaska and ran dogs for three years. Early this winter, he returned to the UP and has been training one of Ed’s puppy teams. He’s now on the Iditarod trail with the youngsters. The puppies come to the start line well trained but over the 1,000 mile race, they grow from rookie athletes to accomplished trail veterans. Trent Herbst is also running a puppy team from Nature’s Kennel.

Justin who is 22 years old was born in Texas but raised in Michigan. For the short term, he wants to earn his Iditarod Finisher’s belt buckle crossing the finish line with happy, healthy, and wiser dogs. In the long term, Justin would like to start his own kennel. In his spare time, Justin enjoys hunting, fishing and snowboarding.