HUMAN

Name: Ellen Halverson

Age: 65
Residence: Big Lake, Alaska

Occupation: Psychiatrist

First Year Ran Iditarod: 2002

How Many Years Involved With Iditarod: 8 years

Iditarod Role: Musher

Current Location: Palmer, Alaska

Date of Photo: April 9, 2026
Temperature: 64F indoors

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

What I love about running sled dogs is when I’m on the runners, and I have a team out in front of me, and we’re crossing the frozen swamps, and I look out at the horizon, particularly if there’s a sunset, I feel more contentment than I do any other place in my life.

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 Alaska from northern Minnesota where I had run the Beargrease 100 with 6 dogs, came up here with a truckload of dogs, and ended up connecting with Linda Pletner when her husband built doghouses for me. There ended up being a small group of us over at Linda’s that were learning and running dogs together, and Linda, of course, was running Iditarod at the time, and I really got the interest in going ahead and running Iditarod from there.

 

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

 

My most memorable experiences running the Iditarod, what was for a big scary event, which was very uncomfortable a lot of times. It was also wonderful. You would go from feeling absolutely terrified to feeling so alive and on top of the world, you would get to have this intimacy with your dogs that you wouldn’t get on a regular basis because they were relaxed and more tired and more engaged with you and you’d see beautiful things. And I really never felt unsafe out there. I knew that people were keeping an eye on me. And it was just really special, both the people, time with the dogs, the amazing amount of country that you went through. 

What in life do you know for sure?:

 

What I know for sure in life is that I have been thankful and blessed that I have done things that I’ve dreamed about, things that I’ve read about that have sounded like such cool adventures. And running dogs is one of them. And I am internally grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to do that.