HUMAN

Name: Jenny Roddewig
Age: 28
Residence: Fairbanks, Alaska
Occupation: Vet Technician
Years involved with Iditarod: 28 years
Iditarod Role: Iditarod Rookie
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 got involved with Iditarod because my whole life has been around dog mushing, and this is the pinnacle of it. I was originally from Montana and that’s where I started mushing as a toddler, and when I was in the womb technically. And then my husband and I and all our dogs moved up to Fairbanks two and a half years ago. And now it’s much more accessible to do Iditarod even though I’ve been qualified for 10 years to do it. So we’re here, and we got a house and everything’s working out for us, so we said, “Let’s do it.” Actually my husband was a big inspiration to do it.

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

I’m here today and involved with Iditarod because of the support of my family and friends, my husband, Mike Roddewig, super big support. He was really one that was like, “Yeah, we can do this. You can do this; we can do this.” It is a team effort. And then friends like Jessie Royer who’s been a mentor in helping, and Josi Shelley, formerly Josi Thyr. I grew up running junior races with Josi down in lower 48th. And so she had a rookie run last year, and she got back and she’s like, “Jenny, you need to go do this.” So inspiration and help from people like that, friends and family, and of course my father who was doing the mushing before I was born and is the reason I do it today.

Tell me about your most memorable Iditarod experiences?:

I’d say one of the most memorable experiences has been coming up to Alaska with my husband. We do everything with our dogs, and we did a backcountry camping trip in Denali National Park with the dogs and that was really, really special. Because that’s the only way you can get back there in the backcountry in the winter time is with dogs. And it was fantastic to go out there and camp and be part of nature like that.

What do you know for sure?:

I know for sure in life everything is better with dogs, and dogs will always be in my husband and I’s life. Everything we do revolves around the dogs. It’s all about the dogs. If there were no races, we would still have our dogs. We would still mush. They love to do it; we love to do it. And that’s what we always tell each other. It all comes back to the dogs. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we do things. They’re the ones that matter the most.