The honorary musher for the 1988 Iditarod was “Muktuk” Marston. Elsie Marston, his wife, led the pre race festivities and cut the ribbon at the start of the race. “Muktuk’s” nick name came due to his success in a muktuk eating contest. Marston was very active in working towards Alaska’s statehood.
Placing 15th in the 1988 Iditarod, Bill Cotter, of Nenana had a total time of 14:01:33:18. Bill had come from New Hampshire to Alaska in 1970. Bill was a school teacher – turned musher, “I’m a professional dog musher now. I’ve raced dogs for 15 years. I ran the Iditarod in 1975 and 1977 and wanted to see the trail again,” as quoted from the 1989 Iditarod Trail Annual. What did Bill eat along the Iditarod Trail in 1988? He’d packed pizza and bagels and cream cheese. Bill stated that the toughest part of the race was going without sleep. In an interview with a reporter from KNOM, Bill stated that this was his first race in 11 years and that the race was much the same but went at a faster pace. “The changes in Iditarod were enormous. The quality of the teams has improved greatly. And everyone is up on the latest equipment and technology. It’s absolutely incredible!” Going on to give advice to rookies, Bill said, “Take it easy and don’t overrun your dogs.” (2011 update: Over the years, Bill signed up for 20 Iditarod races.)
Jacques Philip of By-Thomery, France, placed 14th in the 1988 Iditarod. He also raced in 1985 and 1987, using mostly Joe Redington dogs. Philip was a medical doctor. His wife, Claire, ran the Iditarod, too. As a matter of fact, they were the first married couple to finish the Iditarod in the same year, 1985. Philip’s interest in running the race came about after he helped Earl and Natalie Norris prepare a team for the 1980 Iditarod. (Update: Both Jacques and Claire ran Iditarod multiple times, Jacques, signing up 9 times, latest finish 2006, scratched 2007, and Claire, 4 times, the latest, 1993 with a 13th place finish.)
Having won three Jr. Iditarod races before entering the Iditarod as a rookie in 1985, according to the 1989 Iditarod Trail Annual, Tim Osmar listed his hobbies as mushing and hunting. He told a reporter at the start of the 1988 race, “This year, I have only one position in mind. I’m optimistic. It’s hard to say who will win. It’s a long race. There are advantages with traveling with the front runners. There’s companionship and you can take turns in the lead, too. It helps your dogs’ heads.” But, along with many other mushers, Susan Butcher left competitors miles behind her on the wind-swept Bering Sea coast and claimed her third consecutive victory. (2011 Update: Tim has raced in Iditarod 23 times!)
Harry Sutherland placed 19th in the 1988 Iditarod having raced in 1976 (taking 3rd place), 1978, 1981, and 1987. (He also raced in in1990) In the 1989 Iditarod Trail Annual, he was quoted as having once said, “I want to run the Iditarod to be back among my friends and to meet the challenges of ‘testing our swords’ and enjoying the race.” He had raced in the Yukon Quest 19 84 – 1986 and got back to the Iditarod because he missed Iditarod.
Jerry Austin placed 11th in the 1988 Iditarod. In the 1989 Iditarod Trail Annual, his jobs were listed as a pilot, a big game guide, a trapper, a commercial fisherman, and a barge company manager for Yutana Barge Lines. He had come from the state of Washington in 1969 and had a degree in political science. At one time, he served as mayor of ST. Michael and his address was Number One Iditarod Road. Jerry was quoted as saying, “I race Iditarod because it has become a way of life and a challenge to our whole family.” Jerry became interested in the Iditarod by helping Carl Huntington, the 1974 Champion get ready for the race.
During the 1988 Iditarod, Jerry Austin used two sleds, a Rick Swenson sled and one made by Al Marple. He fed his dogs Eukanuba Plus and cooked on an alcohol burner. For his personal food, Jerry ate steaks, chicken, and tator tots.
Matt Desalernos, who had moved to Alaska from California in 1977 and was a mining engineer working for Alaska Gold Company in Nome, fed his dogs Iams, fish, lamb, and beef. He used a Ray Lang Cooker. Matt’s was called, Matt ‘The Miner’ Desalernos. His advice to rookie mushers was to “get some veteran dogs for your team.” Early in the 1988 race, Matt told a KNOM reporter, “My team is used to all kinds of stuff. I’ve trained them to go through anything. I put about 1,500 miles on most of the dogs,” before the race. Matt finished in 20th place during the 1988 race and 12th in the 1989 race. Matt had raced in 1986 – 87, placing 39th and 16th. He also raced 1990 – 1995. His best finish was 7th place in 1993.
Bill Hall got interested in racing in Iditarod after being a HAM Operator. He began mushing in 1977. After the 1988 race, Bill stated, “I saw the race from the middle of the pack. I learned about the end of the race from an old vet and a storm on the coast.”
Darwin McLeod placed 22nd in the 1988 Iditarod. Before racing, he said, “I have always wanted to run the Iditarod. I thank God I’m finally getting a chance this year. I have an outstanding dog team and my team should be proven after competing in two 200 mile races this year.” He placed 2 spots out of the money but ran a pretty good race. This was his rookie year and the only time he raced in Iditarod, however in 1987, he had won the Tustumena 200 and placed 4th in the KSMR Open Sprint Race. He had moved from Texas to Alaska in 1968 and listed his occupation as a commercial fisherman.
While on a parachute rafting expedition on the Skwentna River in 1979, Horst Maas, a teacher from Lenz, Austria, got interested in the Iditarod. He began mushing in 1984. That year, he followed the Iditarod mushers to Nome using skis and a dog team. This took him 21 days to accomplish. He arrived in Nome with all 8 dogs with which he started. In 1987, he took his dogs to the Himalayas in West Tibet, crossing West Tibet at an altitude of mostly 4,500 meters. “I raced and mushed mostly on frozen rives,” he said in the 1989 Iditarod Race Annual. Horst placed 23rd in 1988, the only year he ran Iditarod.
After hearing stories from Martin Buser, Earl and Natalie Norris, and others, Peter Thomann of Tagish Yukon Territory, Canada, (originally from Switzerland) set his goal of racing in Iditarod. Peter finished in 49th place in 1986. During the 1987 race, Peter had to be flown from Shaktoolik to the hospital because of frostbitten hands. After undergoing physical therapy in Switzerland through the summer, he returned to Tagish to continue his training. He placed 28th in the 1988 Iditarod. Prior to racing in Iditarod, Peter and his wife, Heidi, had dominated European racing. In the 1989 Iditarod Trail Annual, it stated that Peter, who had been an architect in Switzerland for 27 years and a member of the Swiss Association of Architects and Engineers, listed his hobbies as mushing dogs, jazz and classical music, literature, and cooking.
“I was all my life an outdoor person. I like the beauty of nature, especially in Alaska. I like to challenge the weather. I love animals, and feel that I am in harmony with nature,” stated Conrad Saussele, who had been born in Germany in 1936 and moved to Alaska in 1967. He had been a self-employed landscaper and spoke in his quaint German accent. “I looked down and saw all those little feet. All those little feet. How many little steps all the way to Nome? And to think of how I got to Nome—- Shoosh— in a jet plane! And I watched those little feet. I wanted to travel to Nome that way!” But not having a dog team, his solution? He leased a team from Joe Redington, Sr. and began to train. He entered the 1988 Iditarod and finished the race in 29th position. During the race, his personal food was gourmet! He had beef stew, pot roast, and home-made bread, all fixed by his wife, Inga, and stored in Seal-A-Meal bags.
Trail Breaking Snowmachiner Rescued by 6 Mushers… Driving a new 350 pound Polaris long track snowmachine, Don Burt, a long time Iditarod volunteer who was a trail breaker in 1988, had an accident going into Dalzell Gorge. It was snowing a heavy, wet snow when on the 4th day of the race he left Rainy Pass and then entered the Dalzell Gorge at a narrow entrance, about 12 feet wide. He saw open water so he drove over an ice ridge on one side. The bridge gave way and suddenly the snowmachine was upside down in 3 ½ feet of water. He stood on top of the snowmachine track and waited knowing that mushers would soon be coming through the gorge. Jan Masek arrived and began to help Burt. Jerry Austin, Levon Barve, Susan Butcher, and Jacques Philip soon arrived as well. Snow was shoveled and mushers helped upright the snowmachine.
Don took a short break, poured water out of his bunny boots, wrung the water out of his socks, and went back to work. One of the mushers hooked his dog team to the snowmachine. The other mushers got behind the snowmachine and pushed. Jerry Austin helped get the snowmachine going and Burt drove it slowly up the steep hill. “When I reached the top, I looked down and all the mushers were clapping and cheering. I thought I had made it but there wasn’t much snow and I didn’t get much traction. Then I rolled over the edge and turned over and over four times before settling on the slushy bottom.” To the rescue, Rick Swenson, who hooked his snowhook to the snowmachine and pulled it up a steep hill, sideways.
*The majority of these tidbits come directly from the 1989 Iditarod Trail Annual – as written and as told by those involved in the 1988 – 89 Iditarod races. Compiled by Diane Johnson.
