HUMAN
Name: Christopher Fennell
Age: 61
Residence: Chicago, Illinois
Occupation: Archeologist and attorney
Years involved with Iditarod: At least eight or nine years now. I think 2015 was our first volunteering.
Iditarod Role: We volunteered in various ways. We volunteered on a beginners chute in Fairbanks in 2015, in the Nome final spot in 2018. And we were doing some volunteering on comms last year, which was more remote comms rather than being on site at one of the checkpoints.
Current Location: Lakefront Hotel, Anchorage, AK
Date of Photo: March 3, 2023
Temperature: Inside is 68 degrees.
What, who or how and when did you first get involved with the Iditarod?
I first became involved with the Iditarod, I believe, I’m recalling in 2015 and we flew up and we were going to do, we did drop dogs here at the Lakefront for part of the time, but we also got a call and they said, “If you can, fly up to Fairbanks.” They were doing the restart there and they needed people in the start chute. So before, it was the first time we volunteered and we were right in the start chute. It was just fabulous. Then we came back, traveled around a little bit, came back here, and then worked with the team here to handle all the drop dogs as they were returned through the Iditarod Air Force to the Lakefront Hotel and all the vets were here helping them out. And then we’ve been, we volunteered at Nome as well and remote comms in more recent years
What is your Why? Why are you here TODAY and involved with the Iditarod?
I’m here today and involved with the Iditarod because we just love the experience. We love traveling in Alaska, but we also have our own Siberian Husky dogs at home. So we started doing, we have our own sled in Illinois and we had it in Virginia before that. And we do dog sledding down in the 50 states as it were, and love to come up here. We’re going up to the Brooks Range during this trip to do some dog sledding when we get some free time when we’re not volunteering.
Tell me about just one of your most memorable Iditarod experiences:
One of my most memorable Iditarod experiences was I think being in the start chute in Fairbanks. That was really amazing seeing the teams just taking off for the first time. And actually, my wife Lee and I have always volunteered together and she was the one who actually told them, stop here, wait, and then you can leave when I give you the hand. Which was pretty amazing because we were just asked on the fly to fly out and do it.
What in life do you know for sure?
What I know for sure in life is that the lifestyle up here is fabulous and I am going to be back again.