It’s Unalakleet in 2011.  This musher is preparing to depart the checkpoint to cover the remaining 300 miles to Nome. As he booted his team, he didn’t know he was on course for setting not one but two Iditarod records.  What he hoped was that his strategy of “racing” once he got to the Yukon River would pay off.  Who is this Champion?  What’s different about how he boots his dogs?

If you recognize this champion as Kotzebue resident and Native Alaskan John Baker, you know your Iditarod Champions pretty well.  Baker has competed in twenty-one consecutive Iditarod races since his first in 1996.  He’s placed in the top ten thirteen times.  When he claimed gold in 2011, he was the first Inupiaq to win Iditarod and only the second person to finish the race inside of nine days.    

Please explore the Iditarod archives to find the names of those who have run eight day races.  The number might surprise you.  What is the current record and who holds it?  Do you think it is possible to run a sub eight day race?  How long did it take the first Champion to complete the race?

John has trained his dogs to roll onto their back and present all four paws for booting.  John and other Team Baker racers can be easily identified by this practice.  Not only does it call for less bending over for the musher, the practice also allows the musher to easily inspect every dog for harness rub.

Watch for more Telephoto Stories.  Having worked as a volunteer for the race for twelve years and having my camera handy every hour of every day, my Iditarod photo library contains roughly 20,000 pictures.  Seems like sharing photos periodically all year long with a brief description to tell a photo story is a great way to share favorite photos and unique pieces of Iditarod history with Iditarod fans, family, and friends.  Enjoy and comeback soon for another Telephoto Story.