Dallas Seavey, who trained as a wrestler at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at NMU, won a record-breaking sixth Iditarod. The victory came despite a fatal encounter with a moose that his team became entangled with on the trail, which resulted in a two-hour penalty for insufficiently gutting the animal.
“This one was supposed to be hard,” Seavey said after the race. “It had to be special, it had to be more than just a normal Iditarod. And for me, it was. ... There's always an opportunity to learn and grow and adapt, and that's what keeps coming back easier. Maybe there will be a seventh, maybe there will be more,” he told reporters. “I hope to dwell on it when I'm not able to do it. In the meantime, I'm going to keep doing it.”
In a social media post, Seavey credited NMU 2017 outdoor recreation alumna Samantha LaLonde: "She's been such an important person in this year's Iditarod preparations," he wrote. "If you visited us summer of 2023, then you may have had her as your guide."
Seavey had made Iditarod history before: in 2005, when he became the youngest musher to run the race; and in 2012, when he became the youngest to win it. His father, Mitch, won the race three times, and his grandfather Dan has also competed in the event.
For his victory, Seavey will receive $55,600, on top of other awards he's collected along the race trail. Read the Anchorage Daily News' coverage of his record-breaking victory here.
