Dallas Seavey wins Iditarod, matches most wins by a musher
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA (AP) » Ever since Dallas Seavey became the youngest musher to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 2012, he’s been bombarded by questions on whether he would eventually get five race titles, the most ever by a musher.
“I think it was probably 10 minutes after I won that first race that somebody mentioned five,” he told The Associated Press before this year’s race. “At that point, I said I got to worry about No. 2 first. I may be homeschooled, but I know that much, two comes after one.”
Now Seavey, a 34-yearold considered by many to have the potential to become the race’s great champion, will have to start fending off questions about No. 6. Seavey on Monday collected his fifth Iditarod title, winning the pandemicshortened race by more than three hours over secondplace musher Aaron Burmeister.
He matched the record of five wins by Rick Swenson, known as the King of the Iditarod for picking up those titles from 1977-91.
“It’s a big deal,” Seavey said at the finish line after a race official checked to make sure his sled was complete with a sleeping bag, axe, dog booties and other mandatory gear. His 5 a.m. finish was televised statewide.
Seavey said he didn’t allow himself to think about a fifth win on the trail because he didn’t want to jinx it.
“That’s huge, man,” he said. “I looked up to the Iditarod champions my whole life and I’ve dreamed about this my whole life. And now to actually go from that, to see it happen, to realize that,
that’s pretty cool.”
Numerous mushers have tried to crack the five-title barrier over the past three decades only to fall short. Four-time champions and familiar names to fans are the late Susan Butcher, Martin Buser, Lance Mackey, Doug Swingley and Jeff King.
Seavey said the goal has been to get the fifth title, which puts a musher in a pretty elite group, but he’s also realistic about what it means.
“I don’t hold any misconceptions that this would somehow change me,” he said before the race. “We see that in sports quite a lot where we focus so much on one thing and the assumption that it is if you win, this is somehow miraculously going to solve all your other problems. That’s not the case.”
Seavey said at the finish line he tries to give himself a little time after each win to
revel in it, but then it’s time to focus on the next thing, whatever it is.
“Whatever you’re doing, give it your whole attention and we’ll dwell on the records or the numbers when we’re too old to keep doing it. That’s the time to look back at it,” he said. “But right now, I want to keep moving.”
He completed the 848mile trail in 7 days, 14 hours, 8 minutes and 57 seconds. Seavey has won titles in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2021.
The victory also marks Seavey’s return to the race that has been a part of his family’s history since the start. His grandfather, Dan Seavey, placed third in the first Iditarod in 1973.
Seavey finished second to his father, three-time winner Mitch Seavey, in the 2017 race. Shortly after, Iditarod officials announced that four of Dallas Seavey’s dogs tested positive for banned
opioid painkiller.
Seavey vehemently denied giving his dogs any painkillers. A year later, the Iditarod reversed course and cleared Seavey of any wrongdoing. But he skipped the Iditarod until this year, choosing to compete with his dogs in Europe instead.
He said he holds no animosity toward the Iditarod and said the entire Seavey family loves the race and what it means to Alaska. “I think things are all good with the Iditarod right now,” he said.
The pandemic didn’t stop the Iditarod from starting March 7 with 46 mushers. During the race, mushers have bypassed most rural Alaska villages that normally serve as checkpoints as a safety precaution, leaving the competitors to sleep in tent camps outside towns or under the stars in temperatures that have reached minus 55 degrees (minus 48 C).