Iditarod Musher Profile 

Jake Berkowitz, 22, was born and raised in Minnesota. He attended a local community college and then studied to be an EMT at the University of Colorado. He started mushing when he moved to Michigan in the fall of 2005 to work with Ed & Tasha Stielstra at Nature's Kennel and raced Stielstra's B team in the 2008 Iditarod. He remembers learning about the Iditarod at a young age but says, "It was one of those childhood dreams, like being a fireman or a cowboy; I just never thought it would happen." He will be racing a young team for Robert Bundtzen and Zack Steer in 2009. His hobbies are whitewater canoeing and backpacking.