I guess this is the first year I’ve done this, but my longtime girlfriend, her uncle volunteers every year. Originally, when I was in elementary school, they talked a lot about the Iditarod. We tracked it as an elementary school at the time. There was some mushers near where I lived in the Colorado Springs area, so just kind of a little bit of knowledge about it. It was just kind of a fun thing to come up here and do and/or make a ritual, also, visit my girlfriend’s family up here.

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

I guess it’s some of that, and it’s some of family, hanging out with family. It’s an excuse to come to Alaska and visit family, but also just, I guess, it’s almost a bucket list item. The Iditarod was something that I remember learning about as a kid, thinking was pretty cool, and so being able to be a actual volunteer and help with it is pretty cool. Then my girlfriend’s uncle’s really involved with it, so it makes it a lot easier to get really involved.

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

I was going to say, this being my first year, I guess all of it’s been memorable. It was pretty cool. We just put up the sign. I mean, it’s fairly… what’s the term… symbolic. Then yesterday, just doing the ceremonial start was really cool.

What in life do you know for sure?

Change is constant, death and taxes.