Timothy Hunt & Ed Stielstra Represent the Upper Peninsula in 2009 Iditarod

In the words of Hobo Jim, “I did, I did, I did the Iditarod Trail!”

**UPDATE**
Ed Stielstra finished the raced 32nd overall.
Rookie Timothy Hunt finished the race 52nd overall.
The overall winner was Lance Mackey.

As of Sunday afternoon two Yoopers, Ed Stielstra and Timothy Hunt, have completed just over half of the 1,200 mile sled dog race. Ed Stielstra is currently in 41st place with 12 dogs and Timothy Hunt is currently running in 58th place with 13 dogs and 63 mushers still in the race.

This year is the 37th running of the Iditarod (I-Dit-a-rod) Sled Dog Race going from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. In recent years the winning team has taken 9-10 days to complete the 1,200 miles. The ceremonial race start was in Anchorage on March 7th with an official re-start in Willow on March 8th. Racers will be expected to finish during the next few days.

The historic Iditarod Trail was formed during the gold mining era in Alaska during the early 1900s, with mile 0 starting in Seward and was first mapped in 1908. The railroad trail went from Seward, towards Anchorage, through the town Iditarod, and finally ending in Nome, on the western coast of Alaska.

Ed Stielstra

Stielstra resides in McMillan where he operates Nature’s Kennel, offering sled dog tours throughout the Upper Peninsula. Stielstra won the U.P. 200 Sled Dog Race in 2008, which is a qualifying race for the Iditarod. His wife Tasha won the U.P. 200 in 2006. Stielstra has competed in the Iditarod before and has been mushing since 1991.

Timothy Hunt

Hunt currently lives in Marquette and became interested in running the Iditarod after working as a veterinarian on the race. Though he has been mushing since 1993 this is his debut performance competing in the Iditarod. Hunt also operates Dr. Tim’s Pet Food Company offering premium athletic dog food.

As a Michigan State alumnus myself I have to point out that both Stielstra and Hunt also graduated of Michigan State.

And here you have it, Hobo Jim’s “I Did The Iditarod Trail”

Thanks to the folks at Macgellan

I learned that song in the fall of 2007 and sang those lyrics to myself the entire flight back from Anchorage to Chicago. Every now and again I find the song stuck in my head and I sing the chorus a few times. It was introduced to me several times with my host family as we drove from Seward to Talkeetna and back.

A shout-out to Robert for giving me the heads up about Ed and Timothy.