Meet the T100 Mushers
Andy Pohl
Andy may be listed as a rookie in the Iditarod, but not to the Iditarod Trail. His experience includes riding a bicycle two different years in the winter to explore the trail. In 2014 he set out on a self-supported adventure to follow the Iditarod race riding his Fatback snow-bike, from Willow to Galena. He returned in 2015 with unfinished business and followed the length of the Iditarod trail to the finish from Fairbanks to Nome along the alternate route. Along the first journey, he met Kristy Berington at the Ophir checkpoint. Little did he know then how his life would be changed. Andy a lifelong Alaskan born and raised in Palmer, Alaska, is now married to Kristy. With the help of both Kristy and Anna Berington of Seeing Double Sled Dog Racing, he started learning to train for sled dog racing and raising puppies in Knik. Dog sled racing experience includes Willow 300, Northern Lights 300, and Gin Gin 200. His other resume lists him as a University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate and Mechanical Engineer working on building projects in all regions of Alaska from Ketchikan to Utqiagvik.
Sponsors
| Seeing Double Sled Dog Racing Northern Edge Physical Therapy Robert Miller Sea Fur Sewing Halliburton |
Tim Osmar
Tim Osmar is the owner and operator of Osmar Racing and Tours. Tim was born and raised on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, and has spent the last 22 years living in the Caribou Hills. He’s been a commercial fisherman and dog musher his entire adult life. He began mushing in 1979 when he was 12 years old. He ran the Jr. Iditarod four times and won it three times. Osmar has also competed in over 90 other races including winning the 2001 Yukon Quest, completing The Iditarod 23 times, and leading Rachel Scdoris, a legally blind musher, twice in The Iditarod.
Frank Habermann
Loepekennel
Born 1960 in Schwelm, Germany.
Currently resides in Kasilof, Alaska but holds German and Australian Citizenships after having lived for long periods in Germany, Scotland and Australia. Frank is a Doctor
“Our kennel is called Loepekennel, which I share with my wife Edda.
I started mushing with my wife about 16 years ago while living in Scotland.
I have been racing Sprint Races in Australia for several years, but lately focused on Distance Races in Alaska. I have been gaining valuable experience in the Goose Bay 150, Northern Lights 300 and Tustumena 100. I ultimately aim at the 1000 mile races, namely the Iditarod and Yukon Quest.
We are a smaller kennel, therefore enabling us to keep a closer bond with our dogs. We consider them as our companions and not just working sled dogs.”
Edda Jessen
Loepekennel
She says “My dogs are always happy, hungry and eager to run. Running and racing with them allows me to see the breath taking beauty around me, something a lot of people cannot appreciate anymore. I love spending time with my team, running with them, enthused by their strength, work ethics and their joy to run. That is why I mush.”
Lead dogs names: Viper, Beaver and Anna
Monica Zappa
Monica Zappa was born and raised in northern Wisconsin where her family lived off the land and off the grid. She was born into a mushing family. Her mom and dad, Dan and Della Zappa participated in, and officiated, the John Beargrease Sleddog Marathon in Duluth, MN. After her dad’s sudden passing from a plane crash, she took a break from mushing to pursue academics. She holds a B.S. in Meteorology and an M.S. in Geography from Northern Illinois University. She also completed one year of a Ph.D. program at the University of Oklahoma where she also worked at the National Weather Center. In 2010 she left flat Oklahoma for the mountains of Alaska, and for dogs.
Soon after arriving in Kasilof she met veteran musher Tim Osmar and has been breeding, raising, training and racing dogs with him ever since. In the summertime Tim and Monica fish a commercial set-net site and operate summer dog kart tours. In the winter they take the dogs (and anyone else who dares to join) out for ultimate Alaskan adventures in the backcountry of the Kenai Peninsula. Since Monica hit the racing circuit three years ago, she is dedicated to using her publicity to help save Alaska’s wild salmon. She is an activist against the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay and opposes any similar, large-scale mining operations that could pollute Alaska’s precious waterways. Monica says her hobbies are “1) dogs, 2) mushing and 3 )finding ways to fund 1 & 2.”