the Seavey Family

 

Here at Seavey's Iditarod Racing Team our focus is on our family, both human and canine.  We are home to five Iditarod racers over three generations and 100 champion sled dogs.  Since Dan and Shirley moved to Alaska in 1963, the goal has been to win the Iditarod while working together as a family.  Mitch is now the main racer, but his mother Shirley still helps prepare meals and gear for the races, and youngest son Conway (now 12) is out cleaning up and walking puppies every day.  All four grandsons, Danny (26), Tyrell (24), Dallas (21), and Conway were home schooled by Janine, and now the three elder boys have finished college, and are back in Alaska racing and leading tours.

History

 

Dan and Shirley Seavey moved to Seward, Alaska, from central Minnesota in 1963. They were intrigued by the "Sergeant Preston" radio shows, and came here just to mush dogs. After surviving the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Dan began to raise and train sled dogs, in addition to teaching high school and serving with the National Guard.

 

 In 1973, Dan Seavey helped Joe Redington, Sr. found the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a 1,000-mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome. Dan competed in the first and second Iditarod races placing third and fifth respectively. The three weeks spent on the trail to complete those first Iditarod races were huge tests of endurance and fortitude for both the mushers and the dogs.

 

Dan's oldest son, Mitch, was a teenager when his father raced in those early races. Mitch helped Dan train the teams in the months prior to the Iditarod start, and his own interest in racing the Iditarod was born.

 

Mitch Seavey ran his first Iditarod in 1982, placing 22nd. After this race, Mitch and his wife, Janine, began raising a family of their own. As soon as their children were old enough to assist Mitch in his quest to win this elite sled dog race, the family's attention once again turned toward the Iditarod race.

 

In 1995, Mitch ran his second Iditarod, and placed 20th. Mitch has competed in every Iditarod race since. He has finished in the Top Twenty in eight of those races. Mitch achieved his life-long goal of winning the Iditarod in 2004, crossing the finish line in a time of 9 days 12 hours 20 minutes and 22 seconds.

 

Growing up, Mitch and Janine's three oldest sons, Danny, Tyrell, and Dallas all raced in the 150-mile Junior Iditarod. They amassed 8 top 3 finishes, and Tyrell won the race in 2001.

 

Both Danny and Tyrell ran the Iditarod as they turned 18, and in 2005, Dallas became the 5th Seavey to finish the full 1,150 mile race. Tyrell ran his second Iditarod in 2005 with a second string of competitive dogs and followed Mitch and the 'A' team's 3rd place finish with an impressive 16th. Conway, who just turned 12, is already talking about his 2015 Iditarod run, and he's currently training his team for the 50 mile Junior Tustumena race in January.

 

Janine is the "life manager," coordinating everything from race logistical details and sponsors, to the boys' home school curricula. In the summer, the family works together at Ididaride Sled Dog Tours educating the public about the Iditarod Race while training their dogs.