The couple have five children, from 18-year-old Track, who joined the Army and is about to ship out to Iraq, to Trig, born five months ago with Down syndrome.
Todd Palin, 44 this month, has said little since his wife entered the campaign, and several requests for interviews with him and family members went unanswered.
He inherited his family's commercial fishing license and sets nets for salmon every spring in Bristol Bay, often with his wife, 44, along to help with the rugged work aboard a 32-foot boat.
He is a facilities operator for giant BP on the North Slope oil fields. He took a leave from a management job when his wife was elected governor in 2006 but returned after about seven months in a nonmanagement job, according to BP spokesman Steve Reinhard.
He typically works half the month up on the North Slope and has the other half off, as do most of the workers.
Sports is a centerpiece of the family's life, friends say. When Todd's name is mentioned in town, it usually draws comment on the Tesoro Iron Dog snowmobile race -- a weeklong dash of up to 100 mph by two-man teams from Wasilla to Nome to Fairbanks. It's one of the nation's most challenging tests of man and machine.
Davis, his racing partner, said that when Todd wasn't "busy cleaning and cooking and taking the kids," he was working on a snowmobile.
The two train for several months before the race and spend tens of thousands of dollars on their machines. Davis has won seven times and Palin four; they won once as a team.
Davis said they have registered for the race in February, but whether Todd Palin will be able to compete depends on the outcome of the campaign.
Davis said the two are among the older competitors now. "At our age it takes more and more dedication," he said.
Fortunately, it takes more than muscle to win. "The fastest guy rarely wins," Davis said. "It's the guy who gets to the finish line first, and that means navigation and mechanics and doing a better job."
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marjorie.miller@latimes.com
Times staff writer Tom Hamburger contributed to this report.
