HUMAN
Name: Jake Lysyshyn
Age: 41
Residence: Radisson, Saskatchewan CANADA
Occupation: Agriculture Tech
First Year Ran Iditarod: 2004
How Many Years Involved With Iditarod: 6
Iditarod Role: Musher, handler
Current Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Date of Photo: July 12, 2026
Temperature: 55F outdoors
Question 1: What is it about running sled dogs that you love so much?
What I loved the most about running sled dogs would be just the whole process, I guess, starting from pups, training dogs, seeing the finished results. Seeing the dogs themselves succeed and do well, it meant a lot to me. And also, it was nice just to be out in the wilderness and me and the dogs.I love about running sled dogs is the bond that you get with them after training and spending all that time out there. And it’s just a really, really neat deal. I’m getting too old for it now, but it was a lot of fun for a lot of years.
Question 2: What, who, how and when & why did you first get involved running the Iditarod?
I got involved running the Iditarod in 2002, I believe it was. My mom was actually looking through some dog photos, and we both decided that we liked Alaskan Malamutes. We were looking at these Alaskan Malamutes, and I was kind of inspired by how huge they were and powerful. So then we started reaching out to some kennels, one of them was in Alaska, and we wanted to know more about the dogs. So they sent us some pictures of their dogs, and in the packet there was a Mushing Magazine. And I remember looking at the Mushing Magazine, and either on the front or somewhere in there, there was a story about Joe Redington Sr. and how the race was started and just general stuff. I was just inspired by it and I was like, “Man, this is really cool. I’d like to try that maybe one day.”
And then actually, I think it was my mom that reached out to some of the kennels. She got ahold of Rick Swenson and Doug Swingley. And I was working at the time in Alberta. I’m 17 years old or something. So I called them both. They both sounded really great. In the end I decided to go down and help Doug Swingley and Melanie Shirilla. And I wasn’t going down there to run Iditarod. I was going down there to learn and work as a slave, basically. So I worked the first year, and they asked me if I would come back for a second year and I could run Iditarod. After that, Doug hooked me up with the Seaveys here in Alaska, so that summer I came up and helped Mitch Seavey with his tours, which worked in the dog lot, cleaning the dog lot for the most part, and taking pictures. Went back down to Montana, ran Iditarod, then came back up here after that and worked as a handler. So I was in Alaska for on and off six years.
Question 3: Tell me about just one of your most memorable experiences running the Iditarod.
My most memorable experience running the Iditarod was probably from Rainy Pass to Rohn. Had a few problems with my sled. Some of the hardware had come loose. It started falling apart. I didn’t have anything really to put it together. Going through the Gorge, it was kind of tricky. At one point I’d lost my team for a short period of time. Snow hook grabbed on and I was able to retrieve them. By the time I got to Rohn, though, I had very little sled left, and it was questionable if I was going to be able to continue even with that sled. So that’s what stands out the most to me. I guess it wasn’t really a good experience that I’m remembering right now about the Iditarod, but that’s the most memorable.
Question 4: What in life do you know for sure?
What I know for sure in life is there’s a God. I know that hard work and patience pays off, and kindness is always worth it in the end.