#hunter keefe

[tonichelleak]

Iditarod fanboy from a very early age turned Iditarod Rookie, Hunter Keefe and team at the Ceremonial and Restart of Iditarod 51. Hunter would win the Sportsmanship award at the end of the race, voted on by his fellow mushers, for helping out his main competitor for Rookie of the Year as well as for his infectiously positive attitude during the entire race (he was singing and dancing on the back of his sled for nearly 1000 miles).

[tonichelleak]

Hunter Keefe, bib 10, at the Ceremonial Start and ReStart of Iditarod 52. The fan favorite who barely missed being rookie of the year in Iditarod 51 had a rough second time on the trek to Nome. While heading to the Western Coast of Alaska he was forced to scratch after one of his dogs expired due to unknown reasons (test results are still pending, a necropsy came back inconclusive). Rules state that a musher who has a dog expire must scratch if the death is not due to an outside force (drunk on snow machine, homicidal moose, etc). Before having to scratch Hunter was well on his way to having a similar finish to his rookie run, and was running in 10th place. His season of racing had been a solid, and he is known for his excellent dog care. Before the Iditarod began he was excited to have drawn bib number 10 as that's the number he wore the year he dressed up as an Iditarod Musher for Halloween as a child.

Keefe and team rallied a few weeks later for a final race of the season traveling to Kotzebue to run the Kobuk 440. The musher stated his team was too good of a dog team to finish on a sour note and that they deserved to run. They came in second place behind Jessie Holmes.

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