Jeff King (born February 6, 1956) is an American musher and sled dog racer. King moved to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

in 1975 and began racing in 1976. A successful sled dog racer, he won the Yukon Quest in 1989, and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1993, 1996, 1998, and, most recently, the

2006 Iditarod The ceremonial start of the 34th annual (XXXIV) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S. state of Alaska began amidst the crowds of Anchorage on March 4, 2006, and the start of the competitive race, or "restart", began the next day in Willow. ...

. Four other mushers have won the Iditarod four times (

Martin Buser Martin Buser (born March 29, 1958) is a champion of sled dog racing. Born in Winterthur, Switzerland, Buser began mushing at age seventeen in Switzerland. In 1979, he moved to Alaska to train and raise sled dogs full-time. His training opera ...

, Susan Butcher, Doug Swingley,

Lance Mackey Lance Mackey (June 2, 1970 – September 7, 2022) was an American dog musher and dog sled racer from Fairbanks, Alaska. Mackey was a four-time winner of both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Early life Lance was born o ...

) and only two,

Dallas Seavey Dallas Seavey (born March 4, 1987 Deseret NewsDallas Seavey is youngest musher to win Iditarod March 14, 2012. URL last accessed 2012-10-29.) is an American dog musher, one of only two mushers to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U. ...

and

Rick Swenson Rick Swenson, sometimes known as the "King of the Iditarod", (born 1950 in Willmar, Minnesota), is an American dog musher who was first to win the 1,049-mile (1688.2 km) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S. state of Alaska five times, a re ...

, have won it more often (five times each). King was 50 years old when he won the

, which made him the oldest musher to win the event, a distinction he held until 2017, when Mitch Seavey won at age 57.St. George 2006, para. 2.Alaska Dispatch, 13 March 2013 As of 2015, King has competed in 26 Iditarods. His "Idita-Rider" for the

2005 Iditarod The ceremonial start of the 33rd annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the US state of Alaska began in Anchorage on March 5, 2005, at 10 am AKST (19:00 UTC), and restarted in Willow the next day at 2 pm (23:00 UTC). After coverin ...

was a child sponsored by the Make-a-Wish Foundation. King has also won many other sled dog races. He continues to race and has a kennel near the entrance of Denali National Park. While on a training run in Denali National Park in 1980, King's team became entangled with that of a new volunteer ranger and met his future wife and mother of his three daughters, award-winning artist Donna Gates. They divorced in 2011. Stop Kavanaugh Rally - US Capitol Grounds - 09-04-2018 10

Stop Kavanaugh Rally - US Capitol Grounds - 09-04-2018 10

Jeff King was inducted into the Iditarod Hall of Fame in 1999. He is the author of ''Cold Hands, Warm Heart: Alaskan Adventures of an Iditarod Champion'', and co-author (with Tricia Brown) of a children's book, ''Zig: The Princess Warrior''.

Major Mushing Victories

Iditarod (4 times): 1993, 1996, 1998, 2006 Yukon Quest: 1989 Kuskokwim 300 (9): 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2013 Copper Basin 300 (2): 1995, 2010 Tustumena 200 (3): 2000

Notes

References

* St. George, Chas. (March 15, 2006). King makes it number four. ''Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race''. Anchorage, Alaska. Retrieved on March 15, 2006 from Official Site of the Iditarod, For Press
pdf of press release
. * Medred,Craig & Caldwell, Suzanna (March 13, 2013). Mitch Seavey claims victory in Iditarod 2013. "Alaska Dispatch

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Jeff 1956 births Dog mushers from Alaska Living people People from Denali Borough, Alaska People from Madera County, California Iditarod champions