Keaton Loebrich, ’22, feels considerably obligated to clarify his life decisions to his CMU finance professors.
Skilled to trace belongings and liabilities, revenues and bills, the 32-year-old former Marine acknowledges that shifting to Alaska to reside off the grid and race canine within the Iditarod won’t look like the neatest choice.
“I can pull up the Excel file and present you precisely how far within the crimson we’re,” Keaton stated. “That is absolute madness. There’s no return on funding in any way.”
Since incomes his diploma, nonetheless, Keaton has realized not all the things of worth could be balanced in a ledger.
“We’ve received sufficient to do what we do, and that’s all we care about,” Keaton stated.
He and his spouse, Erika, love hauling potable water 40 miles to their house, splitting wooden all summer season to burn via the winter, and periodically firing up the generator to bathe or examine electronic mail. And naturally, they love their 25 Alaskan Huskies.
A life-changing journey to Alaska
In spring 2021, earlier than his senior yr at CMU, nearly on a whim, Keaton utilized for a job giving Jeep excursions close to Denali Nationwide Park. He flew to Anchorage, and after the eight-hour prepare trip to Denali, he knew Alaska would turn out to be house.
Inside per week, he knew he would marry his new coworker, Erika. Then he met four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King and have become intrigued with canine mushing.
He returned to Michigan that fall for his final two semesters, and the day after graduation, he and Erika climbed right into a packed RV and headed to Fairbanks.
“There are only a few locations the place you’ll be able to go so far as you need and never see proof of individuals,” Keaton stated. “The mountains, the wildlife, the sunrises that mix into sunsets … That is probably the most stunning place.”
The Iditarod: Assembly the problem
With steering from King, Keaton and Erika based Star Gazers Racing and started getting ready for the Iditarod. They began with 14 canine rehomed from different mushers.
Keaton, a Midland native, lined up with 32 different mushers in March for the 1,128-mile race from Fairbanks to Nome. He and his crew of Alaskan Huskies completed seventeenth in 13 days.
It was one of many hardest issues he’s ever carried out, however there was no hesitation to register for the 2026 race.
“It’s in contrast to the rest, being on the market with a crew of canine in the midst of nowhere when the northern lights come out … and while you cross that end line, it’s a excessive in contrast to every other. You’re feeling such as you’re able to absolutely anything.”
4 fired-up details about racing on the frozen tundra
- Race-related prices for the Iditarod vary from $20,000-$25,000.
- Keaton and his canine routinely go for eight-hour, 60-mile coaching runs.
- Canine devour 10,000 energy a day of kibble, hen and meat throughout peak coaching and the race itself.
“In each loopy state of affairs, the canine are me for my response. If I act calmly, the canine assume ‘oh, that is nothing, we’ll simply do what he is doing and keep on’.”
Alumni Highlight, School of Enterprise Administration
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