Martin Buser

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.

by Kevin Wells Thursday, March 4, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The Iditarod's field of 71 mushers assembled in Anchorage Thursday night for the race's start draw. The musher banquet is one of the few chances for race fans to mingle with their favorite mushers prior to Saturday's ceremonial start. The 2010 race promises to not only be exciting, but also could be historic as Lance Mackey goes after an unprecedented fourth-consecutive Iditarod title. "There's a lot of competitors who would not like to hear that.

by Channel 2 News staff Sunday, March 1, 2009 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- It was once thought to be impossible. Now Sebastian Schnuelle will try to disprove it's impossible for anyone not named Lance Mackey. Schnuelle, who won the grueling Yukon Quest on Feb. 24, will try to pull off his own version of the Mackey Miracle beginning Saturday as the 2009 Iditarod kicks off. Before Mackey did it in 2007, no musher had ever won the Quest and Iditarod in the same year.

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.

by Kevin Wells Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008 BIG LAKE, Alaska -- The 2008 Iditarod will have a lot of symmetry for the Buser family. While 4-time champion Martin Buser is preparing for his 25th running, his son, Rohn, is getting ready for his first. He has a lifetime's worth of experience watching the Last Great Race. Next week, 18-year-old Rohn Buser, named after an Iditarod checkpoint, will once again pass through Rohn, Alaska. This time it will be on the back of his own dog sled.

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.

by Kevin Wells Saturday, March 1, 2008 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- It's one of the landmark days on the Alaska sporting calendar: The ceremonial start of the Iditarod. A record field of 96 mushers took off on 4th Avenue Saturday. The Iditarod represents the every man or woman who might not ever play in the Super Bowl, or drive in the Daytona 500. But you can participate in sled dog racing's premier event and nowadays, it seems like everybody wants to. After 36 years, it's easy to forget that the Iditarod had humble beginnings.

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.

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.