Musher Profile: Mitch Seavey - A Fierce Competitor

The Iditarod Sled Dog Race features some of the world’s top athletes, dog and human. This a short profile of musher Mitch Seavey. Name: Mitch Seavey Birth Date: 1959 Birth Place: Minnesota Residence: Sterling, Alaska Iditarod 2006, Official start in Anchorage, AK. Musher Mitch Seavey | By Carl Chapman / Wikimedia Commons By the Numbers Number of Iditarod Finishes: 22 Best Finish: 1st (2 times) 2004, 2013 Best Time: 8d 12h 5m 25s (2nd place in 2016) Total Iditarod Earnings: $702,729.33 Impressive Statistic: Placed in the top ten 13 out his last 14 races. Mitch Seavey, husband of Janine and father of Danny, Tyrell, Dallas and Conway, began racing the Iditarod in 1982. After a 13 year break, he continued racing again in 1995 and since then has competed every year. Mitch won the Iditarod in 2004 and 2013. At age 53, he is the oldest winner in Iditarod history. Mitch is the first musher in 75 years to complete the entire Iditarod trail, beginning in Seward and going all the way to Nome. Mitch and Dallas Seavey | Albert Marquez / Planet Earth Adventures 2008 was an especially big year for Mitch. He earned $48,000 for his 7th place finish in the Iditarod, $20,000 for winning the Kuskokwim 300 and $100,000 for the All Alaska Sweepstakes. The All Alaska Sweepstakes is a winner-take-all 408 mile round-trip race from Nome to Candle, and back. Seavey finished the race in 61 hours, shaving 13 hours off of the previous standing 98-year-old record set by John “Iron Man” Johnson. The All Alaska Sweepstakes is another example of how you can never count out Mitch Seavey. With under 50 miles to go Mitch, Jeff King, and Lance Mackey were in the running for the 100K dollar purse. With an enormous late surge Mitch increased his lead over Lance, and trimmed Jeff King’s 38 minute lead down to just 5 minutes. Mitch eventually caught Jeff and for the last 20 miles fought him off and secured his name in history as the 12th winner of the All Alaska Sweepstakes. Mitch and the Seavey family have carved their name in Iditarod and dog mushing history. Check out The Alaska Life’s other musher profiles. Dallas Seavey Wade Marrs Joar Leifseth Ulsom Nicolas Petit Aliy Zirkle Jeff King Martin Buser Enjoy this? Here are a few other stories you may like: 2017 Iditarod Reroute The Original Iditarod Trail A Winning Strategy Iditarod Rookies Dog Races – The Fastest Dogs Don’t Always Win Why Moving the Iditarod Trail is a Good Idea