Robert Bundtzen | |
|---|---|
 Bundzen in 2009 | |
| Born | Robert Bundtzen 1949 |
| Education | University of Alaska University of Washington University of Wisconsin |
| Occupation(s) | Physician, dog musher |
| Spouse(s) | Dr. Joan Bundzten, M.D. |
| Children | 1 |
Dr. Robert Bundtzen, M.D. (born 1949) is an American physician and dog musher based in Anchorage, Alaska.
Bundzten was born in North Dakota in 1949. As a child, he lived in New Mexico before his family relocated to Alaska in 1960. The family first lived in Fairbanks, Alaska but later moved to Anderson. There, the family of six lived in a mobile home while his father, an electrical engineer, worked to help to create the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System in Clear. The town of Anderson was incredibly small; Bundtzen's school had only one room and the class had only twelve pupils, three of whom were his siblings. [1] His mother was diagnosed with breast cancer during this time and after her passing, the family moved back to Fairbanks. Bundtzen had originally planned on attending the University of Colorado but ultimately decided to enroll at the University of Alaska to stay close to his family. He later attended the University of Washington School of Medicine, earning his Doctor of Medicine in 1975, and subsequently completed his fellowship and residency, focusing on infectious diseases, at the University of Wisconsin in 1978. [2] [3]
Though Bundzten first experimented with mushing in the '60s as a teenager growing up in Alaska, he did not take the sport seriously until the '90s. His competed in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race for the first time in 1995, taking 13 days, 9 hours, 55 minutes, and 9 seconds to complete the course and coming in 40th place. To date, his best time is 10 days, 15 hours, 25 minutes, and 15 seconds, a time he achieved in 2006, and his highest position was achieved in 1997, when he placed 27th. [4] According to the Iditarod's official website, he has won a combined total of $14,607.88 in prize money and he is sponsored by St. Elias Specialty Hospital, Ted Kouris of Teddy's Tasty Meats, cardiologist Dr. Mark Selland and his wife Kathy Faryniarz, and neurosurgeon Dr. Louis Kralick.
| Year | Position | Time (h:min:s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 40th | 13 days, 09:55:09 |
| 1997 | 27th | 12 days, 01:32:43 |
| 1999 | 28th | 12 days, 15:04:15 |
| 2001 | 31st | 12 days, 15:38:43 |
| 2002 | 31st | 11 days, 00:34:42 |
| 2003 | 28th | 11 days, 15:18:54 |
| 2004 | 38th | 11 days, 06:53:00 |
| 2005 | 39th | 11 days, 18:45:30 |
| 2006 | 30th | 10 days, 15:25:15 |
| 2007 | 43rd | 12 days, 14:21:17 |
| 2008 | 35th | 11 days, 05:58:45 |
| 2009 | 34th | 12 days, 13:24:30 |
| 2014 | 42nd | 11 days, 20:23:18 |
| 2016 | 54th | 11 days, 08:10:25 |
Bundtzen is married to Dr. Joan Bundzten, M.D. (b. c. 1948), a chemical pathologist. [5] They have a son, Travis Bundtzen (Meghan), an IT technician, and two grandsons. [6] Both he and his wife practice medicine in Anchorage. He has three siblings: Tom, a geologist, Cheryl, an accountant, and Susan (d. 2000), a nurse.
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 and 14 dogs, of which at least 5 must be on the towline at the finish line, cover the distance in 8–15 days or more. The Iditarod began in 1973 as an event to test the best sled dog mushers and teams but evolved into today's highly competitive race.
Susan Howlet Butcher was an American dog musher, noteworthy as the second woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1986, the second four-time winner in 1990, and the first to win four out of five sequential years. She is commemorated in Alaska by the Susan Butcher Day.
The Yukon Quest, formally the Yukon Quest 1,000-mile International Sled Dog Race is a sled dog race scheduled every February since 1984 between Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon. Because of the harsh winter conditions, difficult trail, and the limited support that competitors are allowed, it is considered the "most difficult sled dog race in the world", or even the "toughest race in the world"—"even tougher, more selective and less attention-seeking than the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race." The originator envisioned it as "a race so rugged that only purists would participate."
Mitch Seavey is an American dog musher, who won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S. state of Alaska in 2004, 2013 and 2017. At age 57, Seavey is the oldest person to win the Iditarod in 2017. His son, Dallas Seavey, won the 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016,and 2021 Iditarod; his 2012 win made him the youngest winner ever.
DeeDee Ann Jonrowe is an American kennel owner and dog musher who is a three-time runner up in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, and holds the fastest time ever recorded for a woman. She is a very popular figure in the sport, and her completion of the 1,049-mile+ race in 2003 just three weeks after completing chemotherapy for breast cancer received widespread publicity.
Emmitt Peters Sr. the "Yukon Fox", was an Alaskan American hunter, fisher, trapper, and dog musher. The last rookie to win the 1,049 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, he and his lead dogs Nugget and Digger shattered the previous speed record by almost six days.
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. The race followed a modified version of the northern route for 1,151 mi (1,852 km) across the Alaska Range, through the sparsely inhabited Interior, along the Yukon River, and then up the coast of the Bering Sea to the city of Nome. Unlike in previous years, where the teams had to deal with unseasonably warm temperatures and soft, mushy snow, the weather was cold, with temperatures reported as low as −40 °F (−40 °C).
Ramy "Ray" Brooks is an Alaska Native kennel owner and operator, motivational speaker, and dog musher who specializes in long-distance races. He is a two-time runner up in the 1,049+ mi Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S. state of Alaska, and a former winner of the 1,000 mi (1,600 km) Yukon Quest dog sled race across both Canada and the U.S.
John Quniaq Baker is self-employed American dog musher, pilot and motivational speaker of Inupiat descent who consistently places in the top 10 during the long distance Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Baker won the 2011 Iditarod with a finish time of 8 Days 19 Hours 46 Minutes 39 Seconds.
The ceremonial start of the 35th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S. state of Alaska began amidst the crowds of Anchorage at 10 am (AKST) on March 3, 2007, and the start of the competitive race, or "restart", began at 2 pm the next day in Willow. The race followed the southern route for 1,151 mi (1,852 km) across the Alaska Range, through the sparsely inhabited Interior, along the Yukon River, and then up the coast of the Bering Sea to the city of Nome.
Lance Mackey was an American dog musher and dog sled racer from Fairbanks, Alaska. Mackey was a four-time winner of both the 1,000-mile (1,600 km) Yukon Quest and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Spirit of the Wind is a 1979 American Northern film directed by Ralph Liddle and starring Chief Dan George, Slim Pickens, Pius Savage, and George Clutesi.
Dallas Seavey is an American dog musher, one of only two mushers to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S. state of Alaska five times: in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2021. In 2011, Seavey competed in and won the Yukon Quest sled dog race. In 2018 and 2019, Seavey also competed in Europe's longest sled dog race, Norway's Finnmarkslopet.
George Attla was a champion sprint dog musher. Attla won ten Anchorage Fur Rendezvous Championships and eight North American Open championships with a career that spanned from 1958 to 2011. Attla was the subject of a 1993 book titled George Attla: The Legend of the Sled-dog Trail, by Lewis "Lew" Freedman.
Aliy Zirkle is an American champion of sled dog racing.
Brent Sass is an American dog musher who is one of only six people to have won both the Iditarod and Yukon Quest sled dog races. He is currently running in the 2023 Iditarod, and is currently in fifth place.
The 2019 Iditarod is the 47th iteration of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race held in Alaska. The race began on March 2, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska, and ended on March 18, 2019, in Nome, Alaska.
The 2021 Iditarod was the 49th edition of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska. The race began on Sunday, March 7, 2021, in Anchorage, Alaska. 46 mushers participated in the race including past winners and noted racers Aliy Zirkle, Martin Buser, Dallas Seavey, Peter Kaiser, Joar Leifseth Ulsom, and Nicolas Petit.
The 2022 Iditarod was the 50th running of the annual dog sled race. The competition began on March 5 with its ceremonial start in Anchorage. All mushers were required to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
Herbie Nayokpuk nicknamed the "Shishmaref Cannonball", was an Inupiaq musher, known for his cheerful and straight-ahead demeanor It is said that "no musher in Iditarod history has been more admired, more respected or better liked than Herbie Nayokpuk."
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