HUMAN

Name: David Pike
Age: 62
Residence: I live part of the year in Girdwood, Alaska and part of the year in Shepherdsville, Kentucky.
Occupation: I own a law firm in Kentucky.
Years involved with Iditarod: 20 years. 
Iditarod Role: I am the King of Countdown, so I’m the person who counts down all the teams. I’m also the timekeeper.
Current Location: Downtown, Anchorage, Alaska. 
Date of Photo: March 7, 2020
Temperature: 14F/Outdoors

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

I got I originally got involved with Iditarod all the way back in 1999. I was up here on a cruise with my family and either had the good fortune or made the mistake of visiting Bruce Lee’s dog yard, where he turned me on to dog mushing, and I’ve been involved ever since.

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

I’m here today and involved with the Iditarod for a couple of key reasons. The first one is this is one of the most passionate group of volunteers from all over the world that you can possibly imagine, and there’s a very unique energy associated with this. Once you become part of it, it’s an honor to remain part of it. I think the other key reason is, is that I’m a big believer in the race and fostering the mushing lifestyle, and this race is key to maintaining that lifestyle in Alaska and in Arctic environments around the world.

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

I think probably one of my best memories was the time I got tapped to do my current role the first time, about five minutes before the race started and had to figure that out on the fly. Apparently I didn’t do too badly, which is why I’m still doing it.

What do you know for sure?:

One of my biggest heroes in life was Norman Vaughan, who’s the oldest guy to have ever finished the Iditarod. He and I became good buddies before he passed away. His maxim in life was dream big, dare to fail. The essence of that is, if you translate that into ordinary life, is a lot of people never get to do much because they’re afraid of looking silly and failing. I’ve taken that to heart and it’s one of the reasons I’m here in Alaska today.