Anchorage Daily News

A Unalakleet musher whose grandfather participated in the original Serum Run of 1925 has been awarded $10,000 as winner of the Seppala Heritage Grant.

William "Middy" Johnson, 43, has long volunteered for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and worked as a dog handler for his brother Paul, who finished 24th in the 1986 Iditarod.

He is among the 62 mushers who've entered the 2010 race so far. In order to collect the money, Johnson must start the race.

The Seppala Heritage Grant aims to help rookie mushers who have demonstrated courage and a love of sled dogs.

"Mushing has been in the family for along time," Johnson told the Iditarod Web site. "My grandfather, Henry Ivanoff, was part of the original serum run, having been the one to hand off the serum to Leonhard Seppala. I've been in and out of dogs as time permits."

Ivanoff met Seppala west of Shaktoolik more than 80 years ago after the Togo-led Seppala team ran hundreds of miles to fetch the serum.

"The Iditarod seems like a challenging race," Johnson allowed, "and I thought it would be nice to travel the trail with John Baker and Martin Buser."

Traveling with those two accomplished veterans would likely put Johnson in the top 20, a difficult accomplishment for any rookie.

The selection committee that picked Johnson included Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the Iditarod; veteran Akiak musher Mike Williams; Dan Seavey, patriarch of the mushing Seavey clan and a racer in the first Iditarod; and Laura Samuelson.

"(H)e's been involved with Iditarod as a volunteer for years and years. It's one of those deals where with a little extra help, he could run the Iditarod," Seavey said.

"It costs beaucoup bucks to do the Iditarod, especially from up in that area. And he's done tons of dog driving in Norton Sound area."

The money is substantial -- more than Buser earned for finishing 18th in last year's race. And its source may disappear soon.

Johnson is the fifth Seppala grant recipient, and unless a new donor emerges he could be the last, Seavey said.

Originally seeded by the Seppala family, the grant was boosted by 2004 Iditarod champion Mitch Seavey, who donated $10,000 from his All-Alaska Sweepstakes winning purse to the program. Seavey earned $100,000 in 2008 for beating Jeff King in the winner-take-all Sweepstakes.

Johnson, a father of three, has worked as a fish buyer for the last three years. He's a member of the Unalakleet Native Corporation as well as Unalakleet Search and Rescue.

"For me, when it's a close call, it comes down to, 'what will this person do for the sport?' We have a lot of participants who have a dream. That's nice. But a guy like Middy who's volunteers for 20 or 25 years can be a mentor for the folks up on coast," Dan Seavey said.

"For the folks off the road system, it's a real dedication for them to get to the start line -- a real sacrifice."

Last year, 18-year-old Wade Marrs of Knik won the award. In March, he finished 47th in the Iditarod.

Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.

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