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 United States census, 2020 census. History Agricultural expansion and the establishment of Willmar as a division ...

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n dog musher 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 held in Alaska in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of between 12 and 16 dogs, of which at lea ...

across the

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Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

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

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

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-Kven-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 O ...

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

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

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, and is currently a

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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