Iditarod 35: Buser back in top tier

March 18, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - Maybe the reason you can't teach old dogs new tricks is because they already know them all.

Coming into this year's Iditarod, four-time champion Martin Buser of Big Lake had plenty to prove. He hadn't been in the top-10 since 2003, including an uncharacteristic 23rd-place result last year. Racing fans wondered aloud if the legendary musher had lost his edge.

Maybe Buser - famous for his good-natured, laid back personality - was content to hang back in the pack and enjoy his previous successes?

Not likely.

Buser announced his return to form over the course of this year's Iditarod, running with the lead pack the entire way before eventually finishing fourth in one of the best fields in the race's history.

&#8220That was one of the goals, for sure, to finish back up front after a couple years not finishing that good,” he said.

After completing one of the coldest, roughest races yet, Buser said he still feels the same old hunger to continue competing in the Last Great Race.

&#8220The age hasn't kicked in yet,” the 47-year-old said.

In fact, Buser said he still has as much love for long-distance racing as he did when he was a 21-year-old rookie back in 1980.

&#8220It's like a disease,” he said.

Running the Iditarod is often a grand exercise in patience, and Buser said this year's race was no exception. In fact, he said pretty much anything that could go wrong along the way did, and noted he didn't have a single &#8220clean” run until he hit the Bering Sea coast.

&#8220Gang lines break, dogs get hurt, musher gets hurt,” he said. &#8220Just your typical trail challenges.”

That he still finished fourth is a testament both to Buser's skill as a musher as well as his team, a young, feisty group that was the strongest he's had in years.

The fact that there were challenges along the way, Buser said, can only help his team get better next year.

&#8220They're gonna be more refined and tougher and a little more mature,” he said. &#8220I've got a lot of good dogs for the future.”

Although he obviously would have loved to have joined Rick Swenson as the only five-time winners of the race, Buser said he was happy to see Lance Mackey get his first win. Buser cited an amazing string of events - including Mackey's choice of bib number 13 and his dominant win in the Yukon Quest - with helping the Fairbanks musher build momentum leading up to the Iditarod.

&#8220All that creates an amount of energy that cannot be faked,” he said. &#8220That set him apart from everybody else.”

By the time Mackey reached the coast, Buser said, it was obvious nothing could stop what was quickly becoming a team of destiny.

&#8220If he would have fed his dogs chocolate chip cookies from Unalakleet he would have still won,” he quipped.

Buser said he couldn't be happier for Mackey, because he knows exactly what it feels like to have a race come together so perfectly.

&#8220I have felt that before and it's an awesome thing,” he said.

But while the always-gracious champion can be happy for a fellow competitor, he said he's not giving up just yet on his bid to add a fifth title to his collection. In fact, he said he's already begun plotting strategy for next year.

&#8220Halfway through the race I was already thinking about next year.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@

frontiersman.com