Martin Buser

  Residence: Big Lake, Alaska Age: 50 No. of Iditarods: 26 First Iditarod: 1980 Best Finish: 1st, four times (1992, 1994, 1997, 2002) Etc.: Finished 4th in the Yukon Quest on Feb. 24 Courtesy Jeff Schultz/ Iditarod Click photo for more information

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

Iditarod Champions 1973-2011        1973  Dick Wilmarth  20:00:49:41  1974  Carl Huntington   20:15:02:07  1975  Emmitt Peters  14:14:43:45  1976  Gerald Riley   18:22:58:17  1977  Rick Swenson   16:16:27:13  1978  Dick Mackey   14:18:52:24  1979  Rick Swenson   15:10:37:47  1980  Joe May ...

The 66 mushers competing in Iditarod XLI drew for start positions at Thursday night's start banquet.  Six past champions are in the race, including defending champion Dallas Seavey.  His father, 2004 champion Mitch Seavey is also entered in the race, as are four-time winners Martin Buser, Jeff King, and Lance Mackey, plus 2011 winner and record holder John Baker.  The ceremonial start begins at 10am Saturday on 4th Avenue in downtown Anchorage.  ...

by The Associated Press Monday, March 10, 2008 KOYUK, Alaska -- It remains a very tight race in this year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.      Defending champion Lance Mackey was the first musher into the Koyuk checkpoint Monday afternoon -- but not by much.      Mackey pulled in at 1:19 p.m., followed eight minutes later by four-time champion Jeff King. Koyuk is about 170 miles from the race's end in Nome.      Also en route to Koyuk from Shaktoolik are Ken Anderson, Martin Buser, Ramey Smyth and Hans Gatt.

by Kevin Wells Monday, June 29, 2009 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- It may be the middle of summer, but mushers are already dedicating themselves to Iditarod 38. Sixty mushers committed themselves on the first weekend of signups -- but only one from Jamaica. Newton Marshall ran the Yukon Quest last year, finishing in 13th place. Now he's ready for more elite competition in the Iditarod. Marshall, who's likely the only musher sponsored by Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, will be training with three-time defending champion Lance Mackey.

The signup deadline for Iditarod XL has passed with 65 mushers commited to the world famous sled dog race, but expect the field to grow past 70 teams by the time eligible entries that were postmarked prior to Wednesday night's deadline are accepted. Iditarod Executive Director Stan Hooley confirms that Rick Swenson, the race's only five-time champion, is among those who have entries that are currently in the mail.  Swenson, who also holds the Iditarod career record of 34 finishes, had not signed up prior to this week but it looks like he will participate in the 40th Iditarod.

Big Lake musher Martin Buser was the first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race contender to reach McGrath Tuesday night, claiming the prestigious PenAir Spirit of Alaska Award. The four-time Iditarod champion arrived at 5:55 p.m. with 16 dogs and was greeted by PenAir's vice president of sales and marketing Missy Anderson, who presented him with an original "spirit mask" specially created by Bristol Bay artist Orville Lind. Buser also received a $500 credit toward travel or freight shipments with PenAir.

by The Associated Press Wednesday, March 11, 2009 TAKOTNA, Alaska -- Four-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Martin Buser breezed through the tiny town of Takotna , spending less than a minute Wednesday before jumping on his sled runners and snatching the lead. He checked into Ophir a little before 5 p.m. Buser chose to push on but other mushers -- many of them the superstars of the sport -- were pausing in Takotna, giving their teams a long rest at the checkpoint about 700 miles from the finish line in Nome . There was a method to their madness, they said.

More than two-thirds of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race's field has reached Nome as of Thursday night -- but one sled dog's 300-mile journey to safety is also drawing a healthy amount of attention. Race standings list Aaron Peck as the latest musher to arrive at the Burled Arch, claiming 41st place with a 5:09 p.m. arrival Thursday. An additional 13 mushers remain on the trail, with Bob Chlupach bringing up the rear after checking in to Shaktoolik at 5:25 p.m. Iditarod spokesperson Erin McLarnon says the race's happiest ending could be that of May, a sled dog with Jamaican musher Newton Marshall's team that got separated from his sled en route to Nikolai.

STORY UPDATED AT 10:49 p.m. 3/8/13: Martin Buser checked into Eagle Island shortly before 10 p.m. Friday, holding onto his lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Aliy Zirkle remained in second place checking out of Grayling shortly before 6 p.m. with some shakeup in the remaining top five. Rookie Joar Leifseth Ulsom, who hails from Norway, was listed in third, followed by Nicolas Petit in fourth, and Jessie Royer in fifth who has yet to declare an eight-hour layover. After Eagle Island, teams will approach Kaltag on the Yukon River, which is about 335 miles west of Fairbanks.

Martin Buser's decision to take an early 24-hour layover in the 2013 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race apparently paid off as he took the race's lead Thursday, leaving one question on observers' minds: Can he keep it? As of 2:45 p.m. Thursday, race standings showed Buser as the first musher out of Iditarod at exactly 2 p.m. Lance Mackey claimed a $3,000 prize and a seven-course meal for reaching the race's midpoint at 8:36 p.m. Wednesday, making the 80-mile run from Ophir to Iditarod in 14 hours, 51 minutes.

The 66 mushers competing in Iditarod XLI drew for start positions at Thursday night's start banquet.  Six past champions are in the race, including defending champion Dallas Seavey.  His father, 2004 champion Mitch Seavey is also entered in the race, as are four-time winners Martin Buser, Jeff King, and Lance Mackey, plus 2011 winner and record holder John Baker.  The ceremonial start begins at 10am Saturday on 4th Avenue in downtown Anchorage.  ...

Iditarod Champions 1973-2011        1973  Dick Wilmarth  20:00:49:41  1974  Carl Huntington   20:15:02:07  1975  Emmitt Peters  14:14:43:45  1976  Gerald Riley   18:22:58:17  1977  Rick Swenson   16:16:27:13  1978  Dick Mackey   14:18:52:24  1979  Rick Swenson   15:10:37:47  1980  Joe May ...

The signup deadline for Iditarod XL has passed with 65 mushers commited to the world famous sled dog race, but expect the field to grow past 70 teams by the time eligible entries that were postmarked prior to Wednesday night's deadline are accepted. Iditarod Executive Director Stan Hooley confirms that Rick Swenson, the race's only five-time champion, is among those who have entries that are currently in the mail.  Swenson, who also holds the Iditarod career record of 34 finishes, had not signed up prior to this week but it looks like he will participate in the 40th Iditarod.

A hand injury early Thursday morning has caused Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race officials to withdraw 2004 champion Mitch Seavey from the race at Ophir. According to the Iditarod Trail Committee, Seavey was cutting open a bale of straw at the Ophir checkpoint when he injured his fingers. Race Marshal Mark Nordman examined Seavey’s wounds and determined at 4:11 a.m. that they were severe enough to warrant his withdrawal. ”I literally flinched. I felt like I cut my own hand again.

Big Lake musher Martin Buser was the first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race contender to reach McGrath Tuesday night, claiming the prestigious PenAir Spirit of Alaska Award. The four-time Iditarod champion arrived at 5:55 p.m. with 16 dogs and was greeted by PenAir's vice president of sales and marketing Missy Anderson, who presented him with an original "spirit mask" specially created by Bristol Bay artist Orville Lind. Buser also received a $500 credit toward travel or freight shipments with PenAir.

Of the 62 teams on the Iditarod trail, only one musher can call an Iditarod checkpoint home. Paul Johnson, of Unalakleet, is returning to the Last Great Race after a 25-year absence. "To keep Iditarod interest in the coastal communities, it's nice to have more local mushers...we have guys in Kotzebue and Bethel, but it's more special when you have someone closer to home,” Johnson said. The race itself hits Johnson pretty close to home. He's the grandson of serum run musher Henry Ivanoff, who took part in the historic relay to Nome that gave the race its roots.

A winner has been crowned in this year’s Kuskokwim 300 sled dog race. Musher Paul Gebhardt crossed the finish line with only a one-minute lead over Mike Williams Jr. Pete Kaiser finished third, more than an hour behind the lead times, while Martin Buser and Ramey Smyth rounded out the top five. Contact Charlie Sokaitis at csokaitis@ktuu.com