JIM DAVIS - MUSHER

I'm originally from Somerset Pennsylvania, a small town in the southwestern part of the state.
I grew up enjoying the outdoors and the wilderness that part of the state had to offer.

I graduated from college with a degree in Special Education. I moved to Alaska in 1981 to work as a Special Education Teacher in the Mat-Su Valley.
I grew up learning to ski as a school activity, so when I moved to Alaska I really got into back country telemark and heli-skiing.

I first got introduced to running dogs by my best friend when he asked me to help him train his dogs for the 1988 Iditarod. He gave me eight dogs that didn't make it to Nome. So, by 1989, I had my own team. Oh Boy!

I met my wife, Nancy Marty, in 1984 when she moved from California to work as a Speech Therapist in the Valley. We got married in 1990 and continue to live in the Valley. Our interest in sled dogs has grown along with the size of our kennel.
Our dogs and I ran Iditarod in 1992. What a learning experience about Alaska, about dogs, and about myself.

I have run about twenty mid-distance races and three long-distance races( Iditarod '92, Kobuk 440 '93, Iditarod '96) with the total support and dedication of Nancy.

We currently have a kennel of thirty nine dogs. Their bloodline is that of Martin Buser's husky/hound mix. We love training and working with the dogs and laugh at the parallels of training a dog team and managing a classroom.

We became interested in the Serum Run because of the historical significance and the opportunity it would afford us to travel a long distance with our dogs and to work with the members of this years Serum Run participants to accomplish a common goal. We are thrilled to be a part of the 2006 Serum Run.