I first became involved in Iditarod back in 2001 when my dad married another Iditarod musher, Allie Zirkle. And so since then I have been part of Iditarod pretty intimately, seeing many, many finishes and all the finish lines between here and there. I was a handler for many years for them and then developed my own team.

What is your Why? Why are you here TODAY and involved with the Iditarod?

Today I am here with my own team and racing dogs that I have raised. And my why is just to get them to the finish line. So we have been trying for years and didn’t succeed last year, but that’s just put us in for a great race this year. So my kids being at the finish line, seeing all the struggles that we’ve gone through and all the heartache is why we are doing what we’re doing. To show them that you can persevere, you can push through. And no matter how hard the circumstances is, you don’t give up even if you have to try again and again. So with them, in my forethought, that’s where I head is to the Arch in Nome so that they can see that their mom never gave up and never quit.

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

So one of my most memorable Iditarod experiences was last year, of course, because it’s the only Iditarod experience I’ve been involved in personally. And just getting to the starting line was my favorite moment of the entire Iditarod last year, and I anticipate the finish will be my best moment. I also have races past where I saw my dad race and finish his first race. And then I saw Allie come in second merely being beat out by Dallas Seavey. And so those are pretty exciting races that I’ve been part of and that I’ve got to witness and be out on the trail for.

What in life do you know for sure?

And so one thing I know for sure in life is that it doesn’t matter how hard a circumstance may be, if it’s your dream, if it’s your passion, that if you put your mind to it, you can do it. Don’t give up. Know why you’re doing it. Work hard and never quit.