The men we are following in the Iditarod:

Blake Matray- this is who we want to win!
Two Rivers, AK, USA
Blake Matray, 41, was born and raised in Illinois. A 1990 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado he has a degree in English. "I started mushing dogs in North Dakota in 1995. I bought two Siberian husky puppies from Iditarod musher Brad Pozarnsky and it snowballed from there. In 2000, I moved to Two Rivers to accept a pilot position with the Alaska Air National Guard. Away from the Guard, I'm the Executive Director of the Sled Dog Fund, Inc, a non-profit organization I founded in 2007 with the help of my wife, Erin, and my neighbors, Walter and Deb Lanigan. The Sled Dog Fund, Inc. uses racing sled dogs to raise funding for the support of children with disabilities and their families." Blake is a member of the Two Rivers Dog Mushers and Ducks Unlimited. He and his wife maintain a kennel of 29 AKC Siberian Huskies and 5 Alaskan Huskies and he entered the 2009 Iditarod with the hope of finally making it to Nome. When he isn't training of working, Blake enjoys hunting, fishing and kayaking.
Learn more at Blake’s website: http://www.sleddogfund.org/


Martin Buser - our second choice
Big Lake, AK, USA
Born in Winterthur, Switzerland in 1958, Martin became fascinated with sled dogs while still a teen. He came to Alaska in 1979 to enhance his knowledge of care and training of sled dogs. He began working and training with long-time Alaskan mushers Earl and Natalie Norris and ran his first Iditarod in 1980. Martin, wife Kathy Chapoton and sons Nikolai and Rohn (both names after Iditarod checkpoints, reside in Big Lake, Alaska where the family owns and manages Happy Trails Kennel. Both boys are attending college. Martin spends a large percentage of his personal time speaking with youth on the humanitarian care of animals and the spirit of the Iditarod. A favorite celebrity of the children of Alaska, Martin treats them with surprise visits from his dogs during many of these appearances. Martin runs the race each year with his dogs to test the success of their breeding, training and physical endurance. He regards his racers as true competitive athletes and prides his team on their longevity and spirit of competition. Says Martin, "I run the Iditarod to prove that my dogs, bred, trained and raced by Happy Trails Kennels, are the best amongst the world's long distance athletes." Martin's 2002 team currently holds the record for the Fastest Iditarod by completing the race in 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and 2 seconds. As tribute to his treatment of his racers, Martin was awarded the coveted Leonhard Seppala Award in 1988, 1993, 1995 and again in 1997 for the mot humanitarian care of his dogs. The award was named for the most famous Alaskan musher who ran the longest and most dangerous stretch of the 1925, 674-mile diphtheria serum run from Nenana to Nome, which saved hundreds of lives. Following Martin's 2002 victory, the process for his becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States was completed under the burled monument. Upon completion of the 2005 Iditarod after a woodworking accident four days prior to the race start resulting in the amputation of part of his finger, his fellow mushers awarded him both the Sportsmanship and Most Inspirational Awards. Martin is a member of the Explorer's Club. His hobbies are carpentry and woodturning.Learn more at Martin’s website: http://www.buserdog.com/


Dallas Seavey- a favorite of ours due to his young age
Seward, AK, USA
Dallas Seavey, 21, was born in Virginia and his family moved to Seward when he was five. He is a third generation musher who grew up helping his dad, Mitch, the 2004 Iditarod champion, train his racing teams. In 2005 Dallas became the youngest musher in history to run the Iditarod. He also wrestled for Sky View High School and spent one year training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. He is a High School State Champion, a Jr. National Champion, and was on the 2005 Jr. World team. This will be his third Iditarod and the first time he has raced with his own dogs. He is part owner/manager of WildRide Sled Dog Rodeo in Anchorage. Dallas and Jen Podzemny, who is also running the 2009 Iditarod, were married in April of this year. Dallas says that he enjoys wrestling, hunting, fishing and training his lead dogs.