Sebastian Schnuelle, 46, was born in Wuppertal, Germany, where “a long time ago” he earned a degree in Environmental Engineering. He now lists his occupation as “musher and business owner.” Sebastian began mushing in Germany in 1995 and moved to Canada in 1996 in search of “adventure…and a job!” While living in the Yukon, he operated Blue Kennels, his sled dog tour business, and ran the Iditarod and Yukon Quest a number of times. He was the Yukon Quest champion in 2009. He moved to Alaska in 2010 because of racing and business. Sebastian says, “After following the race on a snow machine for five years, I realized the Insider Crew gets as little sleep as the mushers. So I might as well trade the iron dog for a dog team one more time. My team is at a nice age, so I might as well enjoy the Iditarod Trail to Nome with them. Their nick name is ‘the Skunks’ named after their mother, Skunk, who now enjoys retirement on a couch. With wanting to take a bit of time for sailing and visiting family in Europe, I will not have the time to dedicate a whole winter for training. I am not running to be competitive, rather to enjoy the journey, meet friends in the villages, and spend two weeks of quality time with my dogs.” Sebastian lists his hobbies as sailing, photography and old cars.