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“My family and relatives make my races happen.”
Veteran Akiak musher Mike Williams, Jr. is getting ready to race his eighth in March 2023.
Being a musher in western Alaska isn鈥檛 easy, especially with the recent salmon crashes that impacted an important part of sled dogs鈥� usual diet.
Last year, Williams had an emergency appendectomy that forced him to withdraw from the Iditarod shortly before it began.
But 4-5 weeks after surgery, he was able to get back on the runners and join the last three sled dog races of the season.
鈥�Every time I race, I try to do well, and that鈥檚 usually the motivating factor鈥攖he competition. And then it鈥檚 working with the dogs, which is pretty interesting,鈥� Williams said on a recent phone call from Akiak.
鈥淓very new dog鈥攅ven the same dog鈥攖hey are different every year. They get a little tougher, a little more trail hardened, and in their later years, they tend to take it easier,鈥� he explained. 鈥淭he younger dogs, you have to slow them down. The older dogs, you try to keep them happy and motivate them.鈥�
Williams said that without his sponsors, including 九色视频, Donlin Gold, and Lynden Air Cargo, he wouldn鈥檛 have been able to compete in the Iditarod, which takes a lot of time and money.
He also can’t compete without support from family and community. “My family and relatives make my races happen,” he says.
Williams is also grateful to other mushers, who raced some of his dogs last year while he was recuperating, and loaned him some dogs this year when he was short of a full team.
“We were restricted from fishing all summer, but I鈥檝e been fortunate that people have helped with dog food. When they cleaned out their freezers, they brought food to the dogs. That is a huge help,” he said.
Williams, a father of five ranging from 4 to 12 years old, thinks that the 2023 race might be his last Iditarod.
鈥淭he years go pretty fast, and I don鈥檛 want to miss my kids growing up.鈥�
Related media:
- , Indian Country Today
- , Alaska Public Media