HUMAN

Name: Jason Stewart

Age: 50
Residence: Kasilof, Alaska

How many Years involved with Iditarod: About 8 years

First Year Ran Iditarod: 2018

Iditarod Role: Musher

Current Location: Downtown Anchorage Ceremonial Start Staging Area

Date of Photo: March 7, 2026
Temperature: 16F

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

What I love about running sled dogs is that there’s a bond and it’s a bond that you can’t find anywhere else. It’s an unconditional love. You feed them, you take care of them, you meet their needs, and they will do anything and everything for you and love it with the tail wag.

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

I first moved up here and my dad was highly involved. He was the outside legal counsel for Iditarod and got me in behind the scenes, and I just thought it was so awesome. And then I eventually, I handled for Heather Sirtola who ran years ago, back in the early 2010s, and that was an adventure. It was the first time I got to handle and be down here.
And then from there, it just, the curiosity grew. I was with somebody that had the kennel and we built a team together. She raced several times. I finally, as I was qualifying and training teams, I got qualified and yeah, I got to live the adventure that I didn’t think was possible.

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

 

My most memorable experience has got to be climbing Cape Nome and knowing that that is the last true obstacle before I finished. It was surreal that you come into town and there’s all these people that are cheering not only you, but your name. It was a surreal moment. I couldn’t believe that this 13 days it took me, would finally come into a culmination and I was doing it. And people were there that I had no clue. They’re there to cheer me on, even if I’m finishing third to last. It’s a surreal feeling that I will never forget. Yeah, it was quite the feat. So that one’s burned in my memory. Of all the wild memories I have with running Iditarod, I think that is definitely the most memorable.

What in life do you know for sure?:

 

What I know for sure in life is that nothing is sure. Go out and make it what you want. Anything is possible. Life is an adventure, live it.