HUMAN

Name: Rick Townsend

Age: 65
Residence: Sun City, Arizona

Occupation: Retired from guiding & bush pilot

First Year Ran Iditarod: 1994

How Many Years Involved With Iditarod: 10 years

Iditarod Role: Musher

Current Location: Sun City, Arizona

Date of Photo: March 14, 2026
Temperature: 80F

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

What I love about running sled dogs is just being out in nature with my best friends and absolutely love running at night, especially when the Northern Lights are giving us a show.

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

 

I got involved in running the Iditarod 1st time that I was involved with sled dogs I had 6 dogs given to me by a guy down in the village of Anvik. And because Ken Chase had been running the Iditarod I was kind of intrigued about it. Then to begin with. But then I got the opportunity to get these dogs and was running trapline with them. And we’re clipping along the trail going 8 miles an hour, and I thought, man, this is really fast for sled dogs. And then I had Jim Tweeto from Unalakleet fly over and pick me up and I took just a 6 dog team and ran the Norton Sound portage race. So that was my very 1st race. And I found out 8 miles an hour not near fast enough. So after that, I went to town and bought some dogs from Tim and Dean Osmar and started training. And 2 years later, I ran 5 races that winter and won 4 out of the 5 and took 2nd and the other. So that’s when I decided I was ready for the Iditarod. And then, of course, listening to the Iditarod on the Nome radio station, which we could pick up in Anvik, was really exciting for us because that was pretty much our only entertainment and connection with the outside world where we were living. Listening to that race of the 91 blizzard when Susan Butcher and Rick Swanson duked it out. That was that was pretty exciting and that’s what made me want to get involved.

 

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

 

My most memorable experience running the Iditarod was the downtown start, because my dogs were bush dogs. Most of them had never seen people besides us. And all those people screaming and hollering and then going through the tunnels and the traffic and all the stuff that my dogs had never seen. And they did it so well. I was just so proud of them.

And my 2nd most memorable experience was the restart in Wasilla, were going up the Knik-Goose Bay Road, and there’s people camped all along the trail, you know, barbecuing and all that stuff, and there’s this little boy standing beside the trail, and he’s holding a hot dog, and my lead dog spotted that hot dog, and just plowed into that kid and stole his hot dog. The whole team ran him over. I had to tip my sled up on its side to keep from hitting the kid. And of course, I’m thinking this poor kid’s gonna be just terrified, and he pops up out of the snow, and he hollers to his mom, did you see that, mom? That dog stole my weenie.

What in life do you know for sure?:

 

What I know for sure in life is that tomorrow is never guaranteed to live every day like this might be your last.