Rick Swenson, sometimes known as the "King of the Iditarod", (born 1950 in

Willmar, Minnesota Willmar is a city in, and the county seat of, Kandiyohi County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 21,015 at the 2020 census. History Agricultural expansion and the establishment of Willmar as a division point on the Great Northern ...

), is an

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

dog musher Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most commo ...

who was first to win the 1,049-mile (1688.2 km)

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod, is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome, entirely within the US state of Alaska. Mushers and a team of between 12 a ...

across the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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., ...

five times, a record he held for 30 years, until

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. ...

matched it by winning the 2021 Iditarod. Swenson won in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, and 1991, and is the only person to win in three separate decades. He won his first Iditarod race at the age of 27. Swenson competed in the Iditarod for the first time in 1976, placing 12th. The next year, he beat Jerry Riley by just 4 minutes and 52 seconds, and became known for close finishes. Swenson has won by less than an hour four times, and by less than five minutes twice. Between 1976 and 2012, he has entered the race 36 times and has completed 34 Iditarods, more than any other musher, finished in the top ten 24 times and has won $612,576 in prizes, third among all entrants. He was awarded Sportsmanship awards in 1983 and 1996, and the

Leonhard Seppala Leonhard "Sepp" Seppala (; September 14, 1877 – January 28, 1967) was a Norwegian-American sled dog breeder, trainer and musher who with his dogs played a pivotal role in the 1925 serum run to Nome, and participated in the 1932 Winter Olympi ...

Humanitarian award for dog care twice, in 1992 and 2004. The most controversial finish in the history of the Iditarod is his 1978 loss to Dick Mackey. Swenson believed he had won—he personally crossed the finish line before Mackey. But Mackey had more dogs and a longer harness, and the nose of his lead dog crossed the finish line in 14 days, 18 hours, 52 minutes, and 24 seconds, one second ahead of the nose of Swenson's lead dog. Swenson moved to Alaska in 1973 to run sled dogs. He lived first in

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

, then moved to Two Rivers in the late 1980s. He has been a

fur trapper Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket ...

, gold

prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * '' Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ...

, and is currently a

kennel A kennel is a structure or shelter for dogs. Used in the plural, ''the kennels'', the term means any building, collection of buildings or a property in which dogs are housed, maintained, and (though not in all cases) bred. A kennel can be made o ...

owner. He also enjoys woodworking and is the father of three children. He is a member of the Alaska Miner Association, Two Rivers Mushing Association, and is on the board of directors of the Iditarod Trail Committee, which manages the race. As of 2012, he has stopped competing in the Iditarod.

References

* Chas St. George (2005). "Five time champion Rick Swenson scratches in McGrath". Iditarod Trail Committee. March 10, 2005.
pdf of press release
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swenson, Rick 1950 births American dog mushers Dog mushers from Alaska Living people People from Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska People from Willmar, Minnesota Iditarod champions