HUMAN

Name: Saunders Family

Woodsen Age: 33

Danica: Age: 33

Atlee: Age: 3

Melozi: Age: 1 1/2

Residence: Anchorage, Alaska
Occupation: Danica: Nurse, Woodsen: Pilot

Years involved with Iditarod: Since 2013

Iditarod Role: Spectators
Current Location: Cripple, Alaska

Date of Photo: March 12, 2020
Temperature: 0F/Outdoors

What, who or how and when did you first get involved with the Iditarod?

I got involved with the Iditarod back in 2013. My current husband, my only husband, Woodsen, and I had met and we were dating. I had made a list of the top things I wanted to do in the next five years and one of them was go to the finish of the Iditarod in Nome and watch the finish. And he looked at that list, because I showed it to him and he was, like, “Well, why would we just go to the end of the Iditarod if we could fly the trail?” And my jaw dropped and I was like, “Okay, yes, I want to marry you.” And so in 2013 we flew and followed the race with some friends. My husband, this seemed possible to him because he had worked at Ultima Thule Lodge and they took clients and followed the trail to Nome. So we tagged along with them and didn’t make any plans or reservations and just followed the trail and hoped that whoever and wherever we were going had room for us. And it was a really fun time. We took two years off because we just thought it was going to be something we did once and then that was it. But then we had – Oh, I take that back. In 2016 I was nine months pregnant with my daughter. We flew to Rohn and then went back. And then after she was born we just decided to do it again. And we’ve been doing it the last four years.

What is your Why?..Why are you here today and involved in Iditarod?

I am here today and involved with the Iditarod because of the journey. We’ve never been huge fans of just mushing. But the race itself was kind of interesting to me. And the more you do it, the more people you meet along the way, and you build relationships and you have these really interesting experiences that don’t necessarily revolve around the race itself. But it’s just such an amazing way to get into some rural communities. And the community just comes out to greet the mushers and the support teams, and we just get in on that and get to see different places and experience it. And we’ve met so many really awesome people along the way. So that’s why we’re here.

Tell me about just one of your most memorable Iditarod experiences?

One of the most memorable Iditarod experience was my daughter befriending one of the pilots that we flew along the Iditarod Trail. So we met him I think in Rohn one year and Atlee just went to him. And this is our fourth year now. And every time we go to a new checkpoint she is asking, “Is Rob going to be there? Is Pilot Rob going to be there.” And so, nowhere else would you have that experience with this little girl and this rough-around-the-edges pilot being best friends. But it’s a really sweet product of being out on the trail and being pushed into relationship with people that you wouldn’t usually be. So that’s kind of one of the huge highlights for me.

What do you know for sure?:

What I know for sure in life is that so much of it is unsure; that the people and the relationships I have right now today are so important to me, and they’re what matters and they’re what matters the most in life. My relationship with God is what has rescued me and allowed me to pour into my family and to the friends around me. And so that is what I know for sure – is that I have a God that loves me and that the people in my life are what make it so awesome.