Duluth, MN— John Stetson, of Stetson’s Epic Sled Dog Adventures will be running the 2008 Iditarod in March (Watch WDIO Interview) – an 1100-mile journey running from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. www.iditarod.com.

Stetson, a two-time champion of the John Beargrease Mid-Distance Race, recently took 2nd place in the highly competitive 25th Running of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon. Looking forward to his next step in dog sled racing, Stetson says, “The Iditarod is the longest and most difficult sled dog race in the world, and it’s still amazing to consider it originally was a race to save lives… not for awards. I believe we are now more than ever in a race for health, and I believe that by running the Iditarod I can help affect the health and welfare of people all over.”

The emphasis of John’s mission in running this race is to promote his “Earth Health = Human Health” campaign. He believes that running the Iditarod is an excellent platform for delivering the message of climate change and its real affects on public health. In 1925, a relay of dog teams delivered crucial serum to Nome during a diphtheria epidemic. “Of course, critical steps have been made in public health in the last 80 years but a new generation of health woes has begun to take a very real toll on humans as our global climate changes,” said Stetson.

With more than 20 years experience in the world of dog sledding, this 50-year-old Duluth resident has traveled over 80,000 miles by dog team in his career. Since 1986, Stetson has been highly involved with sled dogs as an educator, explorer and professional racer. He spent 4 years as the sled dog trainer and logistics director for the historic Steger International Trans-Antarctica Expedition. In the following years, his adventures have included many expeditions to Greenland, Ellesmere, Baffin Island and mainland Canada. Most recently John was the expedition manager and team member on the four-month Will Steger Foundation Global Warming 101 expedition to Baffin Island.

Stetson’s tour company Epic Sled Dog Adventures delivers educational dog sledding experiences to hundreds each year.

Help launch Stetson’s 2008 Iditarod mission—watch the sled dogs pull a train!