Ever since Hunter was a little six-year-old, he had this big dream of hitting the trails.
Hailing from Michigan, he got into mushing back in middle school.
Right after high school, in 2018, he made his way up to Alaska to dive into the world of distance dogs.
And guess what?
Since 2020, he’s been the lucky one entrusted with Raymie Redington’s impressive dog team.
Now, the excitement is through the roof because Hunter is gearing up to join Raymie’s team for the 2024 Iditarod!
How cool is that?
Please introduce yourself?
Hi I’m Hunter Keefe!
I believe you originate from Michigan, is this correct?
Yes, I was born in Dearborn, and raised in Okemos Michigan.
How does a young man from Michigan decide he wants to move to Alaska and run dogs?
The Balto Cartoon was my favorite movie as a kid and my teacher picked up on that and told me about the Iditarod.
I instantly fell in love with the race and followed it every year and dreamed of becoming a musher.
I started my mushing career in Michigan doing sprint races in middle school and always planned to come to Alaska as soon as I graduated high school.
Do you reside in Alaska full time now? Do you have family there?
I reside in Alaska full time now, my Family is all in Michigan and Ohio.
But I have made friends who have become family in Alaska.
Do you think that you would one day like to have your own kennel and run your very own dogs? Or are you happy running Raymie’s dogs?
I’m very happy in my current situation and feel very grateful to get to run a team of the caliber of Raymies dog team.
It has always been my childhood dream to have my own kennel and I do have a couple dogs of my own.
Besides the Redingtons, can you remember who the very first musher you met was? What was that experience like for you?
I met Ed Stielstra in 2010 at the UP200.
I was very excited to meet an Iditarod musher.
You must have a great sense of pride to run a team of Redington dogs in the race that Joe Redington Sr had the idea of, and in the same year that Ryan Redington won?
It was an absolute honor to get to run a team of Redington dogs in the Iditarod.
Ryan being the first Redington to win Iditarod in a race I was in, was just the cherry on top.
Is there a specific musher you look up to?
I look up to many mushers, current and past.
How did you end up at the Redington kennel? This must have been very exciting for you?
During Covid I got a job in construction and needed a place to stay.
I was already acquainted with the Redingtons and Robert Redington actually dropped me off at his dads and said here is a handler.
I was working full time my first season at the Redingtons, and training dogs as soon as I got home.
Do you have problems with wearing glasses in frozen temperatures?
They aren’t ideal but they are better than the dry eye I get from contacts while I’m sleep deprived.
What are some of your likes and dislikes?
I love Alaska and dogs.
I am not a fan of big crowds.
Would I be correct in saying that dog mushing is your biggest passion?
Yes.
Have you ever been a spectator at an Iditarod?
My first Iditarod I saw in person was 2019 and I volunteered for the tracker crew and put trackers on sleds.
What’s a typical day in the life of Hunter Keefe like?
Feeding and running dogs is a part of most days!
How did you cope with the weather when you moved to Alaska?
Getting good gear was important.
But I feel it wasn’t too big of an adjustment from Michigan weather.
Has Raymie ever given you one piece of really good advice?
He is full of endless advice haha.
I really like it when he tells me to not get stressed.
What did taking part in your first Iditarod mean to you?
It means accomplishing one of my childhood dreams.
What moment stands out to you most about competing in your first Iditarod?
Coming into White Mountain in 4th place was one of the happiest days of my life.
Seeing everyone out to greet me and showing off my incredible team was so special.
I had 4 pizzas and a sandwich waiting for me with a pile of trail mail.
I could feel the love pouring in from all over and it is hard to describe how special that was for me.
What does it mean to you that you got to run a team of dogs from Ray’s kennel?
It’s an absolute honor.
I put my whole heart into training this team so that I can show the world how incredible they are.
The fact that Raymie trusts me with them speaks volumes.
How did you feel when you heard the news that Ryan had won this year’s race?
I teared up.
Wade and I were trying to catch some shut eye and woke up to cheering.
We both were super proud of our friend.
Was your first Iditarod everything you expected it to be?
Everything and more.
Hard to describe how much this race meant to me.
Besides the actual race, what other part of the Iditarod week did you enjoy most? Banquet? Ceremonial Start? Etc
Ceremonial start was incredibly fun.
To see all the fans and share my team with my girlfriend Jessi on my tag sled and the Teacher On The Trail as my Iditarider was incredible.
What was the experience of having an Iditarider in your sled like for you?
Having the Teacher on the Trail was the best experience ever!
I feel like it was an honor to share my team with the TOT!
Will you be competing in the Iditarod in 2024? Will you do anything different in next year’s race?
I will be trying to be more competitive haha.
A lot of the mushers talk about your famous singing on the sled. Does singing calm you when out on the trail?
It keeps me awake and makes me happy.
What music do you listen to?
Anything and everything good haha.
I think lots of different genres is good and all songs with great lyrics and special ties to my life.
Tell us about the moment you ran into Eddie Burke Jr on the trail?
At first I thought I might be hallucinating, or that it was an ITI walker.
But when he stayed right on the side of the trail when I pulled up, I knew this person needed some assistance.
I pretty quickly told him to just hop on and the rest is history.
Next year’s Iditarod may have a lot more competitors, how would you feel about going up against the likes of Dallas Seavey?
I think it will be an honor to share the trail with the greatest mushers in the sport next year, just as it was this year.
Your mushing career has only just begun, yet you are already doing really well. Tell us a bit about some of your achievements in the shorter races?
I have won the Goose Bay 150 twice, and this year I took second in the Willow 300.
In the 2022 season I never placed out of the top 5 in any race I entered.
Dallas Seavey is the youngest musher to ever win the Iditarod, winning the race before his thirtieth birthday. However, you are only twenty-three. Do you think you could change that?
I have been dreaming of running and winning the Iditarod from a very young age and anything is possible.
When competing are you very competitive or do you prefer a more laid back race?
I feel like I am pretty focused on the team I’m driving.
Their spirits are what makes me competitive.
When they are thriving, so am I.
How badly sleep deprived have you been during a race?
I feel like this year’s Iditarod wasn’t the worst I’ve been sleep deprived.
I was able to take lots of hour naps in my longer stops and it kept me fresher than I have felt in some 300 mile races.
Do you have a favourite dog?
I don’t like to pick favorites but my leader, Senior, has been quite extraordinary for me and therefore is very special to me.
Looking to the future, what does it look like through your eyes?
The future through my eyes has many opportunities for myself to continue to learn and find success in the sport of Mushing.
I also hope to teach the world about this incredible sport and how amazing alaskan huskies truly are.
How important is it to you to be sponsored for the Iditarod? Is there a way that fans can sponsor you?
Anything helps as far as sponsorship goes.
I have a website that has ways to sponsor the team and I!
Thank you to Hunter for agreeing to answer these questions.
If you want to support Hunter for this upcoming race season, you can find more details on his website at hunterkeefe.com
