Newton Marshall

Newton became one of her most eager pupils, having grown up in a nearby village he had to work to support his family instead of continuing his education.

It was there he first met the future sled dogs including Marbles and Jimmy and his soon-to-be instructors Rick and Anette Johnson owners of Ah-Regah Kennel & Equipment in Mahtowa, Minnesota.

Rick hitched the dogs to a three-wheel cycle and asked me to run ahead and call to them in a special way – I was surprised when they responded," says Marshall.

On the first day they pulled me on a snowmobile – my first time in the snow – it was freezing and very shocking and I thought I was going to fly; so amazing to see dogs move that fast.” He was amazed by the Great Lakes Aquarium, the Minnesota Zoo, Gooseberry Falls State Park as well as the Corps of Engineers Lake Superior Marine Museum where he saw Duluth’s famous Aerial Bridge in action.

Frigid temperatures and 100-mile runs with the sled dog team were his new reality and Gatt's experience and diligence in Marshall's training would mean his – and his team's – survival in harsh conditions saying: “In addition to learning the skills required to mush a dogsled team over long distances, Newton will need basic dog-care and camping skills in order to survive and care for fourteen dogs for ten to fourteen days, outside in the sub-arctic in the dead of winter.” Marshall was up to the task and 27–28 March 2008 he competed in the 210-mile Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race from Dawson City, Yukon Territory to Eagle, Alaska and back.

Marshall successfully completed Alaska's Copper Basin 300 ( 10 to 13 Jan 2009) placing 13th in a field of 27 starts and became the first Jamaican ever to qualify to run in the Yukon Quest 1,000 Mile International Sled Dog Race.

His team was financially supported by Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville cafes and he was using borrowed sled dogs from Lance Mackey's Comeback Kennel.

He once again was forced to scratch when his now famous dog "Wrong Way May" got free from the team while Newton helped another competitor who was having trouble, May ran the trail backwards and was found 7 days later alive & well, near the race starting point nearly 300 miles from where she had gotten away.

Marshall returned to Alaska one more time, again without a Major Sponsor he funded his team with the help of a couple local businesses "Acme Auto Glass" & "Black Lake Buildings" of Wasilla, as well as donations through Crowd-funding and Social Media.

[1] Newton also made headlines during the race for coming to the aide of fellow musher Scott Janssen the "Mushing Mortician" who had broken his ankle on the trail and could not get back to his sled.