John Baker

  Residence: Kotzebue, Alaska Age: 46 No. of Iditarods: 14 First Iditarod: 1996 Best Finish: 3rd, 2002 Courtesy Jeff Schultz/ Iditarod Click photo for more information ...

by The Associated Press Monday, January 18, 2010 FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- John Baker brushed aside wind chills of more than 60 below to win the Kuskokwim 300 sled dog race in Bethel. Baker crossed the finish line Sunday evening with a team of 10 dogs in harness. He beat former Iditarod champion Martin Buser by more than an hour to take the top prize of $20,000. Three-time defending Iditarod champ Lance Mackey finished third. It was the first Kusko 300 win for Baker, who has been mushing dogs for 15 years and runs a 35-dog kennel in Kotzebue.

For 15 years, John Baker remained one of the Iditarod's most consistent mushers.  The native of Kotzebue, Alaska had posted 11 career top 10 finishes, including 7 straight from 2001 to '07.  Entering 2011, the crowd favorite's best finish was third and in 2010, he lost valuable time while getting lost towards the halfway point and came in 5th.  But 2011 was Baker's year, as he not only claimed his first victory, but he shattered the course record in...

As of 10 p.m. Saturday, Paul Gebhardt was the first Kuskokwim 300 sled dog race musher out of Kalskag. Kalskag had a 25-minute lead over Mike Williams Jr. in second. Pete Kaiser was in third, John Baker was in fourth and Martin Buser was the fifth musher to leave Kalskag. Contact Charlie Sokaitis at csokaitis@ktuu.com

Defending Iditarod champion John Baker had some words of wisdom when he spoke Wednesday morning at the First Alaskans Institute's Elders and Youth Conference in Anchorage.   "'Dream, Try, Win' is my Motto," Baker said during his keynote speech. Baker is the first Alaska Native to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 35 years -- but it took him 16 years to do it. "During those years I learned that it is all about persistence," Baker said. The champion received multiple standing ovations when he spoke about the importance of having a dream and chasing it relentlessly.  He will defend his title in 2012, and hopes to smash his previous record.

Kotzebue  musher John Baker is still in the lead of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. He was the first musher to arrive in White Mountain, where mushers must take an 8-hour layover before continuing to Nome. Baker arrived in White Mountain just after 4 p.m. Iditarod spokesperson Chas St. George said Ramey Smyth had also checked into White Mountain, but his time has not yet been posted to the Iditarod site. Hans Gatt, Dallas Seavey, Hugh Neff and Sebastian Schnuelle have all made it to Elim, with Seavey passing through.

For 15 years, John Baker remained one of the Iditarod's most consistent mushers. The native of Kotzebue, Alaska had posted 11 career top 10 finishes, including 7 straight from 2001 to '07. Entering 2011, the crowd favorite's best finish was third and in 2010, he lost valuable time while getting lost towards the halfway point and came in 5th. But 2011 was Baker's year, as he not only claimed his first victory, but he shattered the course record...

Kotzebue musher John Baker was the first Iditarod musher into Unalakleet Sunday morning, leading the race by nearly two and a half hours over his closest competitor, Ramey Smyth. Baker’s arrival in Unalakleet at 5:04 a.m. with 11 dogs earned him the Wells Fargo Gold Coast Award of a gold cup and $2,500 in gold nuggets. “I’m not too impressed with the speed they’re keeping,” Baker said of his run times. “I thought they’d want to go a little faster.

by Kevin Wells Tuesday, March 17, 2009 NOME, Alaska -- Lance Mackey is still in the lead of Iditarod 37 , distancing himself from the rest of the pack as he pulls into White Mountain for his mandatory 8-hour layover. But it's been slow going on the trail as mushers battle harsh weather conditions along the Bering Sea coast. John Baker and Sebastian Schnuelle say they're not racing each other yet, but their battle for second place is the most compelling thing left in Iditarod 37, especially when you consider Baker's ascent into the top three.

by Andrew Hinkelman Wednesday, March 10, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Rest seemed to be the order of the day for mushers in Day 4 of the 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race . As of 11:45 p.m. only nine of 65 mushers were officially listed as on the trail, though the official standings page may have been delayed. Many mushers were presumably taking their mandatory 24-hour layover. Farther along the trail, Dallas Seavey and John Baker have left Cripple in their wake.

For 15 years, John Baker remained one of the Iditarod's most consistent mushers. The native of Kotzebue, Alaska had posted 11 career top 10 finishes, including 7 straight from 2001 to '07. Entering 2011, the crowd favorite's best finish was third and in 2010, he lost valuable time while getting lost towards the halfway point and came in 5th. But 2011 was Baker's year, as he not only claimed his first victory, but he shattered the course record...

For 15 years, John Baker remained one of the Iditarod's most consistent mushers.  The native of Kotzebue, Alaska had posted 11 career top 10 finishes, including 7 straight from 2001 to '07.  Entering 2011, the crowd favorite's best finish was third and in 2010, he lost valuable time while getting lost towards the halfway point and came in 5th.  But 2011 was Baker's year, as he not only claimed his first victory, but he shattered the course record in...

Defending Iditarod champion John Baker had some words of wisdom when he spoke Wednesday morning at the First Alaskans Institute's Elders and Youth Conference in Anchorage.   "'Dream, Try, Win' is my Motto," Baker said during his keynote speech. Baker is the first Alaska Native to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 35 years -- but it took him 16 years to do it. "During those years I learned that it is all about persistence," Baker said. The champion received multiple standing ovations when he spoke about the importance of having a dream and chasing it relentlessly.  He will defend his title in 2012, and hopes to smash his previous record.

Iditarod Winner John Baker presents a history of dog sledding in Alaska as part of an exhibit at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Run through the history in his presenation Qipmigaq (kip-mi-gak) Inupiaq for "traveling with dogs".  While you're there cuddle with his puppies and take a buggy ride with an Iditarod team in training. Daily presentations at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Fees are in addition to the Alaska Native Heritage Center entrance ticket. Joint tickets are $39.95 for adults and $23.95 for children; $25 for Alaska residents, $20 for children; ANHC members also receive a discount Dog Team Rides are  $10.

On the trail, musher John Baker is known as a man of few words. But on Wednesday, a day after he broke Iditarod records by finishing with a time of eight days, 19 hours and 46 minutes, he sat down with reporters to talk over a Styrofoam cup of coffee in Nome.   He spoke about being a role model for Native mushers, his lead dogs and why he isn’t sure he’ll be coming back to run the Iditarod again next year. Bad Training, Great Race Baker's training runs in the last season were frequently thwarted by weather, and he said he more than once set out on a three- or five-hour jaunt that ended 14 or 22 hours later.

It ended just the way he had imagined. During his long mushing career, John Baker nurtured a quiet wish: if he ever ended up winning the Iditarod, he wanted to finish surrounded by the beat of Inupiaq drums. Just after a sunny dawn in Nome on Tuesday, Baker did just that – riding into town with a team of 10 dogs surrounded by cheering fans and the thunderous drumming. “That was a dream I had, if I ran I wanted it to end like that,” he told an audience in Nome on Tuesday, just after he was named the champion of the 39th Iditarod.

Kotzebue  musher John Baker is still in the lead of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. He was the first musher to arrive in White Mountain, where mushers must take an 8-hour layover before continuing to Nome. Baker arrived in White Mountain just after 4 p.m. Iditarod spokesperson Chas St. George said Ramey Smyth had also checked into White Mountain, but his time has not yet been posted to the Iditarod site. Hans Gatt, Dallas Seavey, Hugh Neff and Sebastian Schnuelle have all made it to Elim, with Seavey passing through.

Kotzebue musher John Baker was the first Iditarod musher into Unalakleet Sunday morning, leading the race by nearly two and a half hours over his closest competitor, Ramey Smyth. Baker’s arrival in Unalakleet at 5:04 a.m. with 11 dogs earned him the Wells Fargo Gold Coast Award of a gold cup and $2,500 in gold nuggets. “I’m not too impressed with the speed they’re keeping,” Baker said of his run times. “I thought they’d want to go a little faster.

As of 10 p.m. Saturday, Paul Gebhardt was the first Kuskokwim 300 sled dog race musher out of Kalskag. Kalskag had a 25-minute lead over Mike Williams Jr. in second. Pete Kaiser was in third, John Baker was in fourth and Martin Buser was the fifth musher to leave Kalskag. Contact Charlie Sokaitis at csokaitis@ktuu.com

by Andrew Hinkelman Wednesday, March 10, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Rest seemed to be the order of the day for mushers in Day 4 of the 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race . As of 11:45 p.m. only nine of 65 mushers were officially listed as on the trail, though the official standings page may have been delayed. Many mushers were presumably taking their mandatory 24-hour layover. Farther along the trail, Dallas Seavey and John Baker have left Cripple in their wake.