HUMAN

Name: ALAN ZHOU
Age: 32
Residence: NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Occupation: FINANCIAL MANAGER
Years involved with Iditarod: THIS IS MY 3RD YEAR
Iditarod Role: COMMUNICATIONS FOR IDITAROD
Current Location: LAKEFRONT HOTEL, ANCHORAGE
Date of Photo: MARCH 16, 2019
Temperature: 68F / INDOORS

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

SO WHEN I WAS A KID, WAY BACK 20 YEARS AGO, ONE OF THE- WHEN I WAS A KID, I WAS VERY INTERESTED IN ANIMATED MOVIES, LIKE MANY KIDS ARE.  AND THE STORY OF BALTO THAT CAME OUT FROM UNIVERSAL STUDIOS REALLY MADE AND IMPACT ON ME WHEN I WAS A KID. AND I THINK THE IDEA OF THE ORIGINAL SERUM RUN BACK IN THE 1920S WAS REALLY JUST AN INSPIRING STORY. AND, AS I GREW OLDER, ONE TIME HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK WITH REECE, WHO IS ONE OF THE COMMS PEOPLE HERE WHO I FOUND OUT WAS INVOLVED IN THE IDITAROD. AND THAT KIND OF BUG JUST KIND OF SWELLED BACK AGAIN WITHIN ME. AND JUST – I COULDN’T TURN DOWN THE OPPORTUNITY TO HELP WITH A RACE THAT NOWADAYS SERVES TO COMMEMORATE A PART OF THAT SERUM RUN.

Tell me about your most rewarding experience on Iditarod?:

SO IT WAS ACTUALLY MY FIRST YEAR OUT ON THE TRAIL. I WAS STATIONED AT UNALAKLEET. AND I WAS SCHEDULED TO COME BACK ON A COMMERCIAL FLIGHT WITH A BUNCH OF OTHER PEOPLE. I WAS WOKEN UP BY VERONICA, ONE OF THE OTHER COMMS FOLKS, SAID, “YOU READY TO GO?” AND I HAD JUST A FEW MINUTES TO PACK BECAUSE THEY HAD PUT ME ON ONE OF THE IAF FLIGHTS. AND I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO LEAVE THAT MORNING IN A LITTLE, SMALL CESSNA FLYING ALL THE WAY FROM UNALAKLEET BACK HERE TO ANCHORAGE. AND IT WAS THE MOST GORGEOUS AND BEAUTIFUL DAY EVER TO BY FLYING. AND, YOU KNOW, IT WAS MY FIRST TIME ON THE TRAIL. SO BEING ABLE TO FLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND SEE WHERE THE TRAIL GOES, YOU KNOW, JUST UNDERNEATH YOU. AND THE VIEWS WERE JUST ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC, LIKE SPECTACULAR. AND EVEN TO THIS DAY, I STILL LOOK AT THE PICTURES FROM TWO YEARS AGO AND I STILL SHOW PEOPLE THOSE PICTURES BECAUSE I HOPE EVERYONE AT SOME POINT HAS THAT OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY FLY ACROSS, YOU KNOW, CENTRAL ALASKA IN A LITTLE PROPELLER AIR PLANE TO REALLY APPRECIATE WHAT’S OUT THERE.

What do you know for sure?:

I THINK THE ONE THING THAT I KNOW FOR SURE IS, THE PATH THAT I TAKE IS REALLY UP TO ME. ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF BEING IN AN ORGANIZATION LIKE THIS IS, YOU GET TO MEET WITH A LOT OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE WHO HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES. AND I THINK ONE OF THE MOST COMMON RECURRING THEMES IS THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE INVOLVED IN THIS RACE HAVE REALLY BEEN ABLE TO FIND OUT WHERE THEY WANT TO GO FOR THEMSELVES. AND SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, IF YOU WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL, OR IF YOU HAVE A GOAL IN LIFE, YOU REALLY HAVE TO CARVE THAT PATH FOR YOURSELF. A LOT LIKE THE MUSHERS HERE REALLY DEPEND ON THEMSELVES TO GET FROM THE START LINE TO THE FINISH LINE TO FIND OUT WHERE THEY WANT TO GO.