By Terrie Hanke
Musher, Dan Seavey, of Seward, Alaska drew bib #65 at the musher banquet prior to the 40th running of Iditarod but today he was wearing bib#100. Seavey rolled into McGrath with fourteen spirited dogs at 13:08 on Thursday afternoon. His first order of business was to bed down and feed the team. A couple of hours later, Dan was telling stories inside the checkpoint commemorating the Iditarod Historic Trail’s Centennial.
The elder Seavey is running the 2012 Iditarod to celebrate the trail’s 100th birthday. The trail was surveyed and layed out in 1910. For 15 years the trail was used for hauling freight, mail and gold. By 1925 use had dwindled as the airplane took over. The Last Great Race is the longest user of the Historic Trail. Iditarod currently celebrates its 40th anniversary. The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance is sponsoring Seavey as its “Centennial Musher” to highlight the history of the trail, the importance of communities along the trail and the value of sustaining the trail.
At seventy-four, Seavey is the only musher competing in the 2012 race who also ran the first Iditarod. Seavey worked with Joe Redington in staging the first race in 1973 and also ran the race. He alos went to Nome in ’74, ’97 and ’01. He began running dogs when he came to Alaska in 1963 to teach at Seward High School. When teaching Alaskan history, Seavey says he was taken by the importance of the Iditarod Trail and the role it played in the early development of Alaska. As a result of his interest in the trial, he’s become involved in all things Iditarod.
As Seavey held the one of a kind bib #100 he remarked that people have asked if it represented his age. He replied that he wished it did as he’d like to be doing what he’s doing right now when he is 100. Seavey carried a proclamation from the 27th Alaskan Legislative session in his sled to McGrath to present to the Mayor. Part of the proclamation read, “As it did in the past, the Iditarod Trail serves as a transportation route between villages and is used to access mining and subsistence areas.” The trail centennial celebration has spanned four years, 2008 thru 2012.
