HUMAN

Name: Shannon Brockman

Age: 56
Residence: Anchorage, Alaska

Occupation: Retired Geologist
First Year Ran Iditarod: 2004

How many years involved with Iditarod: 1

Iditarod Role: Musher

Current Location: Anchorage, Alaska

Date of Photo: March 6, 2026
Temperature: 68F, indoors

Question 1: What is it about running sled dogs that you love so much?

What I love about running sled dogs is every sled dog has their own personality, their own strengths, weaknesses, and skills. The challenge of running a dog race and putting together a team was being able to look at all of those different strengths and weaknesses, and pooling the dogs together and figuring out who to use where in different terrain, in different weather, and just seeing how they all interacted together. That was my favorite part.

Question 2: What, who or how and when & why did you first get involved running the Iditarod?

 

I got involved running the Iditarod because I had moved to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories in 1992. My aunt and uncle had a dog team, and I also had a really good friend with a trapline team. In his cabin, he had a bunch of books about Libby Riddles and Susan Butcher. And as I was learning how to run that single hitch trapline team, I would read those books at night. I was always just super curious about Alaska, about the Iditarod dogs. And so then I applied to University of Fairbanks, and came here to go to school to Alaska, and run dogs.

Question 3:  Tell me about just one of your most memorable Iditarod experiences running the Iditarod.

My most memorable experience running Iditarod is Egavik, the old reindeer herding station. I had run my dogs from Kaltag to Unalakleet and tried to do it in one stretch, which was a huge mistake. And my dogs did not want to leave Unalakleet. So when I finally did get them out of there, we stopped in Egavik and it was a place I had visited a few years prior, and the sun was out and I was able to let all the dogs loose, and we just played and hung out. And they just needed time. And I will always remember that as being a very, very special spiritual spot and just a lovely experience.

What in life do you know for sure?:

 

What I know for sure in life is that it will carry many surprises. It will carry ups and downs, and it’s always better if you persevere with a smile.