HUMAN

Name: Janine Seavey
Age: 65
Residence: Sterling, Alaska 
Occupation: We have a tour operation in Seward, but I don’t work there anymore, but that’s what we have done for years.  
Years involved with Iditarod: Involved with the Iditarod since 1982 was Mitch’s first Iditarod, so I’ve been involved since then. 
Iditarod Role: Wife, everything, supporter
Current Location: Downtown Anchorage Ceremonial Start, Anchorage, Alaska

Date of Photo: March 1, 2025
Temperature: 30F outside

What, who or how and when did you first get involved with the Iditarod?:

I first became involved with the Iditarod in 1980. I had met my husband, Mitch, and when I met him, he was planning to run the Iditarod that year. Instead, we got married in March, so therefore our anniversaries were… He’s always gone out on the trail, pretty much ever since. If Mitch hasn’t raced, it’s only been three years since 1995 that he has not raced, but one of the boys has always raced during those years. So a lot of history.
And then of course his father goes back to the very first Iditarod. 

What is your Why? Why are you here TODAY and involved with the Iditarod?

I am here today and involved with Iditarod because after a two-year hiatus from racing, Mitch has decided to run again. He wanted to have… He was missing Iditarod and all the involvement, the training through the winter, the involvement with our crew, the sled dogs. So I think he decided he’d sign up again and we are back.

Tell me about your most memorable Iditarod experiences?:

One of my most memorable Iditarod experiences was the year that Mitch’s father was back in the race doing kind of a historic thing along the way, talking in all the checkpoints, and Mitch and Dallas were both running, and Tyrell might’ve even run that same year, but that year happened to be the year that our youngest son, Conway, won the junior Iditarod. So he actually started the race. So to have four boys all involved was a pretty good highlight for us.

What do you know for sure?:

What I know for sure in life is the value of family and God in our everyday lives and the support we can be to one another.