caption birth_place nationality birth_date residence image article_title name occupation
martin iditarod . buser during the ceremonial start of the 2010 winterthur , switzerland american -lrb- naturalized -rrb- 29 march 1958 big lake , alaska file relaxed -lrb- 4416494454 -rrb- . jpg : four time champion martin buser looking very martin buser
 martin buser sled dog musher
martin buser

martin buser -lrb- born march 29 , 1958 in winterthur , switzerland -rrb- is a champion of sled dog racing .
martin buser began mushing at age seventeen in switzerland .
in 1979 , buser moved to alaska to train and raise sled dogs full-time .
his training operation , happy trails kennels , is located in big lake , alaska .
he entered his first iditarod in 1980 , and has run every race since 1986 , his third iditarod .
buser has won the event four times , in 1992 , 1994 , 1997 , and 2002 .
on sixteen occasions , he has finished among the top ten finishers .
he is the runner-up for fastest finish time in iditarod history ; his team completed the 2002 race in 8 days , 22 hours , 46 minutes , and 2 seconds .
he entered his first yukon quest in 2009 and finished in fourth place , earning him `` rookie of the year . ''
his sense of humor and positive outlook have made him a fan favorite .
in 2008 , he comically caused quite a stir among fans worldwide when he accidentally gave his gps unit to a pilot who was transporting dogs and equipment to and from a checkpoint , when the race was first introducing gps tracking on the racers so fans could follow their paths live .
martin also has a happy-go-lucky way about him .
it shows mostly clearly when he talks in highly annoying/exaggerated tone of voice to his dogs .
other top competiters in the iditarod , like deedee jonrowe and aliy zirkle have found this method to work well in communicating with their dogs .
married to educator kathy chapoton , buser named his sons , nikolai and rohn , after iditarod check points .
upon completion of his fourth iditarod victory in march 2002 , buser was naturalized as a citizen of the united states under the burled arch in nome that marks the race 's official finish line .
buser and his happy trails kennels were featured on an episode of the discovery channel 's `` dirty jobs '' program as well as on the sixth episode of `` sarah palin 's alaska '' .
