Bill Gallea, Seeley Lake, Montana Bill Gallea was born in Minnesota in 1949. He began his mushing career and his medical career in Grand Marais, Minnesota. He now lives in Montana with his wife, Cindy, and two children, Jim, 15, and Brian, 12, where he practices as an self-employed emergency physician. He works in hospitals in both Missoula and Helena. He began mushing in 1985 and became interested in someday running the Iditarod as he visited with mushing friends in Minnesota who had competed in the race. He ran the John Beargrease in 1988 and finished the Race to the Sky 500 three times. Bill says, "The Iditarod represents for me the kind of challenge that calls upon all the skills I’ve been developing over the past thirty years: raising and training dogs; keeping in fit condition; surviving in the wilderness; keeping calm in the face of emergencies; and functioning will on little sleep." Bill’s hobbies are fishing, hunting, and hiking.

Paul Gebhardt, Kasilof, Alaska Paul Gebhardt, 39, was born in Minnesota. He says he came to Alaska in 1989 to "escape the rat race." He’s currently a self-employed commercial fisherman and a carpenter employed by JE Thornton. He met Dean Osmar and Martin Buser shortly after arriving in Alaska and soon became "hooked on mushing." He ran a number of mid distance during the 1994 and 1995 mushing season. His hobbies are mushing dogs, hunting, trapping, exploring Alaska and building his own log home. Paul and his wife, Evy, have three children, Paul Jr., 20, Nikka, 18, and Kristin, 11.