Sometimes the trail brings you exactly the right people at the right time. This summer, Sean crossed paths with musher Shane Blumentritt in the tiny coastal town of Seldovia, and that chance meeting turned into one of our favorite conversations yet.

Shane has been mushing for years, building a kennel from the ground up with his fiancée on the Kenai Peninsula. He’s continuing his push toward qualifying for the Last Great Race with the Copper Basin 300 on deck, while she’ll be tackling the Knik 200 the week before. Their story is one of grit, growth, and chasing big dreams with a team of dogs who always keep things interesting, Enjoy!

Our next episode is with Thomas Wærner, an Iditarod Champion and Finnmarksløpet Champion, the two longest sled dog races in the world. He lives in Norway with his dogs while working a full-time job, and has spent decades surrounded by sled dogs — experiencing the wilderness, the hardships, and the rewards of the trail with them.

This year, Thomas returns to the Iditarod for the first time since his win, bringing a new team of young dogs who have yet to see this trail. He isn’t aiming to finish first with them this year, but is building toward that goal in the years to come.

Thomas is also close friends with Kjell Inge Røkke, a major Iditarod sponsor and this year’s Expedition Class musher — a new feature of the 2026 race. He’s looking forward to sharing the experience with Røkke while running his third Iditarod. Enjoy!

Intro - 0:00

Interview with Thomas - 25:25

We had ourselves some good ole-fashioned, clean fun with "the guy from that Nat Geo show" and 2025 Iditarod Champion - Jessie Holmes! Out of pure journalistic instinct, we didn't dive too deep into the 'Rod - after all, the race's documentary already has that covered.Instead, our conversation took as many twists and turns as the Susitna River (which, fun fact, doesn't actually have that many). It was an enjoyable, free-flowing chat, and we hope you'll enjoy it just much as we did!Intro - 0:00Jessie interview - 26:43