Musher Details

2018 Iditarod » Mushers » Jim Lanier

Jim Lanier

Bib Number: 32
Hometown: Chugiak, Alaska
Website:


Biography

Jim Lanier, 79 years young, was born in Washington D.C. and raised in Fargo, North Dakota. After receiving his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis, he moved to Alaska in 1967 to serve at the Native Hospital in Anchorage with the US Public Health Service. A Pathologist at Providence Hospital for thirty-some years, Jim is now retired from medicine but not from mushing. He “went to the dogs” in the 70’s as a result of hanging around with Iditarod mushers Ron Gould, Dinah Knight and Gerry Riley. Then in 1979 he ran his first Iditarod, as chronicled in his book Beyond Ophir. A sequel, Way Beyond Ophir, is in 1st draft. In 2014 Jim entered his seventeenth race to Nome and, for the first time, had to scratch due to a ruptured Achilles tendon. 2015 and 2016 saw scratches two and three with pneumonia in Unalakleet and a fractured collar bone in Kaltag. In 2017 a bum knee forced a handing of the reins to good friend Gunnar Johnson. In 2018, he got into serious trouble on the coast and had to scratch. In 2019, he completed the Yukon Quest. Apparently Jim’s determination, or stubbornness, knows no bounds as he now returns to the starting line for yet another go. After that “Who knows?” he says. “Health aside, it’s a matter of continued enjoyment of the dreaming, scheming, training, support of family and friends, and of going head to head with people half my age and younger.” Lanier’s specialty is his white dogs and, therefore, his “Northern Whites Kennel.” Jim is married to Anna Bondarenko, the first and only Russian Woman to enter and complete the Last Great Race, in 2000. Jim is a member of the AMA and the Democratic Party. He is the father of four adult children (Margaret, Kimberly, Willy and Jimmy) and grandfather of five (Annie, Ethan, Ollie, Logan and Jessie). His activities include singing, commercial fishing and writing.

Sponsors

Bering Sea Animal Clinic
Alaska Equine & Small Animal Hosptal
Alpine Creek Lodge
Rhyneer and Caylor Orthopedic Clinic
David A. Pike, Pike Legal Group, PLLC


2018 Standings

Checkpoint Time In Dogs In Time Out Dogs Out Rest Time Previous Layover Status Distance
Enroute Time Speed (mph) 8hr 24hr
Willow 3/04 15:00:00 16
Yentna 3/04 19:01:00 16 3/04 19:08:00 16 0h 7m 4h 1m 10.46 42
Skwentna 3/04 22:42:00 16 3/05 04:29:00 16 5h 47m 3h 34m 8.41 30
Finger Lake 3/05 09:37:00 16 3/05 14:58:00 16 5h 21m 5h 8m 7.79 40
Rainy Pass 3/05 19:01:00 16 3/05 23:57:00 16 4h 56m 4h 3m 7.41 30
Rohn 3/06 04:15:00 16 3/06 10:50:00 16 6h 35m 4h 18m 8.14 35
Nikolai 3/06 20:16:00 16 3/07 03:45:00 15 7h 29m 9h 26m 7.95 75
McGrath 3/07 09:45:00 15 3/07 09:45:00 15 0h 0m 6h 0m 8.00 48
Takotna 3/07 12:27:00 15 3/08 13:39:00 15 25h 12m 2h 42m 6.67 ✔ 18
Ophir 3/08 16:04:00 15 3/08 17:24:00 15 1h 20m 2h 25m 9.52 ✔ 23
Iditarod 3/09 15:15:00 15 3/09 23:10:00 15 7h 55m 21h 51m 3.66 ✔ 80
Shageluk 3/10 06:39:00 15 3/10 13:26:00 15 6h 47m 7h 29m 7.35 ✔ 55
Anvik 3/10 16:27:00 15 3/10 16:51:00 15 0h 24m 3h 1m 8.29 ✔ 25
Grayling 3/10 19:10:00 15 3/11 05:49:00 15 9h 39m 2h 19m 7.77 ✔ ✔ 18
Kaltag 3/12 01:58:00 15 3/12 10:26:00 15 8h 28m 20h 9m 6.05 ✔ ✔ 122
Unalakleet 3/13 01:58:00 15 3/13 10:28:00 15 8h 30m 15h 32m 5.47 ✔ ✔ 85
Shaktoolik 3/13 16:36:00 15 3/14 00:46:00 14 8h 10m 6h 8m 6.52 ✔ ✔ 40
Koyuk 3/14 07:57:00 14 3/14 14:58:00 14 7h 1m 7h 11m 6.96 ✔ ✔ 50
Elim 3/14 21:37:00 14 3/15 07:36:00 13 9h 59m 6h 39m 7.22 ✔ ✔ 48
White Mountain 3/15 14:58:00 13 3/15 23:17:00 13 8h 19m 7h 22m 6.24 ✔ ✔ 46
Safety 3/16 11:30:00 13 12h 13m 4.50 ✔ ✔ Scratched 55