Buffett Rooting for Jamaican Musher at the Iditarod

Jimmy Buffett has been a supporter of the Jamaican Dogsled team for years. Newton Marshall, a Jamaican musher is competing in the Iditarod race and Jimmy is cheering him on:

Newton Marshall, 26-year-old Jamaican musher, couldn’t have a better fan in the form of Jimmy Buffet. Not only is Buffet rooting for him to win the Iditarod, but he has been his team’s primary sponsor since the Jamaica Dogsled Team was founded by a friend.

“I just love the whole idea of it,” the singer said. “I love the absurdity that when we first did this, people laughed and thought it was a joke and guess what? It isn’t.”

Marshall, who lives in St. Anne Parish in Jamaica, has already completed a 1,000-mile dog sled race: the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. Out of 29 mushers, he came in 13th. To prepare for the Iditarod, he has been training with the defending Iditarod champion Lance Mackey, who is a three-time consecutive winner and a four-time Yukon Quest champion.

If Marshall makes it to the Nome finish line, he will be the first black musher to complete the world’s longest sled dog race.

Learn more about the Jamaica Dogsled team here.