HUMAN

Name: Roxy Wright

Age: 75
Residence: Fairbanks, Alaska

Occupation: Retired Dog Musher

How many Years involved with Iditarod: Lots.. sprint musher for 50 years

First Year Ran Iditarod: 1983

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 the bond between the musher and the dogs, and it’s just special. I grew up, my dad was a champion musher of the Rendezvous and the North American before I was ever born, so I grew up with dogs. From the time I was just a little girl, that’s what I wanted to do when I grew up was to be a dog musher, so I did spend my life running dogs.

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

The question is my most memorable experience running the Iditarod is. I think just being out there by myself, especially at night in the northern lights. I didn’t travel with anybody, so it was just me and my dogs. That’s a long ways to go with just you and your dogs, and it was awesome.

 

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

 

My most memorable experience running the Iditarod brings to mind two or three different situations. One was in the 2002 Iditarod early in the race, I had an exceptional team and it was a clear full moon out, aurora going and I was going along and there was a raven out probably 2:00, 3:00 in the morning and it would fly along right over the top of my team and fly out in front of me, land, and then wait till I got to it. And it did that for several hours as I ran through the night. And it was just a cool thing that happened.
And then there’s sad memories too sometimes like we have family situations. I think it was the 1998 Iditarod. I was having a heck of a race running down the Yukon, but before I had left the start, one of my aunts had passed away and my grandpa on my dad’s side had gone into the hospital and I went in and visited him before we headed to Anchorage and I just was having a tough race. And going into Nulato, I had just a heavy heart and it was like I had somebody to talk like I knew precious that he was gone and there was a lot of friends on the trail like Joe Garnie. I know Joe and then because I was ready to quit. I think I came into Galena in maybe fifth or sixth within a couple of hours of the lead and I was ready to just… When I finally got them to finally tell me that my grandpa had passed, I was going to quit.

What in life do you know for sure?:

 

What I know for sure in life is people should find what they love to do and follow their dreams. Because if you do what you love, then you’re always … It’s never work. It’s always a joy. I think it’s important to try to live a joyful life, and so I was blessed in that I had got to run dogs.