John Stewart has been running dogs since the age of six. Throughout his 18-year mushing career, he’s had a chance to learn dog sled racing from the best. His list of mentors is pretty impressive and worth a closer look. Before getting to the mentors, defining mentor might be helpful. A mentor is an experienced and trusted adviser. Words that can be used interchangeably with mentor are guide, counselor, consultant, trainer, tutor and guru. Guru – that’s a cool word but what does it mean? Guru is defined as influential teacher, authority, specialist or popular expert. Amateur is the opposite of mentor and guru. The experts that John has sought training and advice from include Tim White, Egil Ellis, Hans Gatt, Doug Swingley and his own father, Alan. Who are these guys? What have they accomplished that qualifies them for “guru” status?

Tim White is a Minnesota musher who some consider to be the “ultimate dog man.” Iditarod’s trail boss, Mark Nordman says, “Sleddog sports are his life. His every thought and action is somehow connected to dogs.” Besides being an international champion, Tim is an expert innovator and sled builder. He has designed the quick change runner (QRS) system. Different snow conditions require different runner plastic not to mention, runners become damaged on poor trail so it’s necessary to change the plastic periodically. With Tim’s QRS, an aluminum rail is screwed to the bottom of the runners then lengths of plastic can be easily slid into the rails. White has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Mush with P.R.I.D.E for his never-ending energy in being goodwill and promotional ambassador for sleddog sports worldwide. White is also known for his knowledge as a mushing historian.

Egil Ellis was born in Sweden but now calls Willow, Alaska home. His father introduced him to sleddogs almost 30 years ago. Today he is known as an exceptional Scandinavian Hound sprint class racer with a long list of victories on both the European and North American circuit. With the Scandinavian Hound line, Ellis and other mushers are seeking to develop a faster sleddog by crossbreeding Alaskan Huskies with German and English Shorthaired Pointers. The outcome is a tough dog with enormous stamina and endurance that is eager to please and extremely friendly. When asked in an interview with writers from Sled Dog Central what advice he would give to beginning mushers, Egil replied, “You must LOVE dogs and ask experienced mushers a lot of questions – that way you will avoid many stupid mistakes.”

Hans Gatt grew up on a farm in Austria and now lives near Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory of Canada. Hans used to focus his energies on motocross racing but after attending a sleddog race, he parked the bike and devoted his life to sleddogs. Hans started raising dogs and amazingly, he won all eight races that he entered in his first year of competitive racing. Was his success due to the breeding of his dogs, his dog-driving abilities or the sled he built to race with? Hard to say for sure but many other mushers ordered sled from Hans. Hans is the current Yukon Quest Champion and has won the Quest 3 other times. He’s won on the Wyoming tour, is a 4-time winner of the European Championship and a long list of other accomplishments. His current goal is to improve his best finish of 6th place in Iditarod. Keep an eye on Hans in Iditarod this year.

Doug Swingley from Lincoln, Montana is a 4 time Iditarod Champion. He joins Susan Butcher and Lance Mackey in being the only mushers to have won Iditarod 3 consecutive years. In 1995, Doug became the first non-Alaskan to win Iditarod. From 1992 to 2001, Swingley finished every Iditarod in the top ten. He’s also a champion on the Montana race circuit. Because of eye problems experienced in Iditarod 2004, Doug has some difficulty with night vision so he prefers to race during daylight hours. Stage racing is a perfect fit. It’s like the Tour de France – there is a different distance to cover each day but then the athletes rest all night. Along with the stage racing dogs, Swingley still raises and trains Iditarod dogs that are known to be excellent marathon athletes and are renowned for their speed, endurance and durability on the trail. With his superior animal coaching skills, Swingley has now expanded to training horses for endurance racing.

Alan Stewart, John’s father, lifelong mentor and friend says, “My advice… which he does not need… would be – follow the game plan and the advice from those real close to you.” It will only be a few days and John will have the chance to put what he has learned from his mentors to use on a very tough Iditarod Trail. Good Luck John! Godspeed.

Born to Run,
Sanka