Jeff King spoke at the Iditarod Winter Teacher’s Conference on Friday. He’s the winningest musher of all times and has four Iditarod victories to his credit. He shared stories about his rookie trip from Anchorage to Nome in 1981. It took him 15 days to cover the route and he finished in 28 place. He didn’t run Iditarod again until 1991 when he finished in 13 days, taking 12th place. Jeff has made the trip from Anchorage to Nome 20 times, has won 4 and placed in the top ten all but 4 times. What a record that is! It was a surprise to everyone in the room when he announced that this Iditarod would more than likely be his last. He plans to run other races but wants to retire from the Iditarod at the top of his game rather than run his final race knowing that he had run one to many.

Jeff has a very famous lead dog named Salem. Had it not been for Salem, Jeff’s 4th victory in 2006 might not have been. One of his wheel dogs came loose from the gangline and was running out in front of the team. King stopped the team and stomped the snow hook into the trial. He took treats and walked out toward the lose dog. This dog had a playful streak and as soon as King would get close, he’d run off a few yards. All the time, King is saying, “Come boy, come, here boy, come on…” Well the team thought Jeff was calling them so leaning into their tugs, they pulled the hook and trotted toward Jeff who had just caught the loose dog. When they reached King who was holding the captured wheel dog, they trotted right on by expecting him to jump on the runners. With the dog in his arms, Jeff stood helplessly as the team continued down the trail and disappeared over the crest of a hill. Jeff was calling, “SALEM STOP! SALEM WHOA!” Carrying the captured dog, King made his way to the crest of the hill to find his team waiting on the other side. Now there’s a lead dog that listens to and follows commands. If Salem hadn’t stopped the team, Jeff would have had a long walk to the next checkpoint and quite likely would not have won the race. Salem hasn’t run Iditarod since 2006 but has been training puppies. Jeff ran Salem in lead for today’s ceremonial start.

King used a gee-pole set up to guide his team 11 miles from 4th & D in downtown Anchorage to the Campbell Airstrip. There’s a long sturdy pole lashed to the side of the sled which the musher uses for steering and support. Two sturdy skis are attached to the gangling behind the wheel dogs. The musher is pulled along by the team while standing in bindings on the skies behind the wheel dogs but in front of the sled. One of Jeff’s daughter’s was riding the runners of the sled. It’s a most unusual set up that originated from the gold rush when dogs were scarce and miners had to propel their loaded sleds themselves. Jeff used this old method of steering the sled in the 2009 ceremonial start also.

Well there you have it, the latest scoop on Jeff King and his Iditarod Career. Will Jeff earn another Iditarod victory and join Rick Swenson as the winningest Iditarod mushers. Only time will tell.

Born to Run,
Sanka