HUMAN

Name: Amanda Otto

Age:  32

Residence: Denali Park, Alaska

Occupation: Musher, Guide, Public Speaker

First Year Ran Iditarod:   2022

How Many Years Involved With Iditarod: 3

Iditarod Role: Musher

Current Location: Iditarod Headquarters, Wasilla, Alaska

Date of Photo: June 27, 2026

Temperature: 62F outdoors

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

II really love building a team, so I love raising dogs from puppies to adulthood and getting them down the trail for the very first time is a very rewarding experience. But in general, I just love dogs. Always have and worked with Australian shepherds and then bird dogs in high school and went back to sled dogs 10 years ago when I came up here. I guess the training and the lifestyle is the fun part for me.

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

 

I got involved running the Iditarod kind of by accident. I came to Alaska 10 years ago to work with sled dogs professionally but didn’t really have a desire to run the race at the time and then I tag sledded with somebody at the 2017 ceremonial start and thought, if we’re going to scoop dog poop for a living, we might as well make Iditarod the goal. And now I’ve done the race twice and I’m coming back for a third time with my own dog team.

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

 

I think my most memorable experience running the Iditarod to date is finishing the 2024 race with a team of dogs that I had raised and trained myself. They belonged to Jeff King and Husky Homestead but I had the pleasure of raising and training them up. That was a really proud parent moment for me. That’s probably my most memorable and as far as best experience goes. Worst experience is probably doing the Dalzell Gorge without a headlamp the first time I ran the Iditarod. 10/10 do not recommend.

Question 4: What in life do you know for sure?

 

So what I know for sure in life is that whether or not I was ever racing or running the Iditarod, I would always have dogs.