HANSEN'S RACING KENNEL
Kotzebue, AK
Hansen's Racing Kennel is located in Kotzebue, Alaska, 33 miles above the Arctic Circle. My parents - Paul and Margret Hansen started a small kennel in the early 80s. I grew up with sled dogs, mushing and doing junior sprint races. I ran my first distance race in 2017.
From 2021 to 2025 I ran the Kobuk 440 consecutively with my best finish in 2nd place in 2025.
I work as a Physicial Therapist at Maniilaq Health Center, training dogs after work and on weekends. We have a kennel of 24 dogs, training 22 for this years' race.
I am signed up for my rookie run in the 2026 Iditarod and I would love your support!
Managing a racing distance sled dog team is very expensive, even more so living in a rural community. All gear, food and supplies, and traveling to races is through air freight; which adds to the expenses immensely.
Below are some of the estimated costs to run the Iditarod and other 2026 races-
Race entry fees ~$3000
Booties over a dollar each. We go through thousands of booties throughout the training and racing year.
Dog food- $65 per bag, going through roughly three bags per week
Sorted meats (beef, chicken, meat mixes, fats) ~$60 per 40lb box. Roughly two 40lb boxes are used to feed the dogs each week.
Straw $60 a bale, using multiple bales throughout the year in dog houses, and on camping trips.
Vet supplies ($700), supplements, sled plastics, and other gear needed.
Freight doubles price of all supplies sent into Rural Alaska. Just traveling out of Kotzebue with a dog team costs roughly about $10,000 roundtrip.
For the Iditarod, about 2,000 lbs of food and gear for both musher and dogs will be sent out and dispersed throughout 20 checkpoints.
Pretty damn expensive.