HUMAN

Name: Jodi Cole
Age: 63
Residence: California
Occupation: Work for a professional hockey team
Years involved with Iditarod: first year
Iditarod Role: Musher parking, and in Fairbanks, I will be a dog handler
Current Location: Downtown Anchorage Ceremonial Start, Anchorage, Alaska

Date of Photo: March 1, 2025
Temperature: 30F outside

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

I got involved with the Iditarod after owning Huskies myself. I got my first Husky in 2010. I fell in love with the breed and began researching it more, and I did watch the movie Eight Below, which was really inspiring to me. I attended last year as a spectator and was just so impressed and amazed at what these animals and mushers could do. So we decided after our trip last year that we were coming up to volunteer this year.

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

I am here today because I absolutely love the state of Alaska and enjoy the history and the culture of Alaska. The dog sled race is just an amazing feat with athletes, both the canine athlete and the human athlete, and I wanted to do anything I possibly could to help keep this race going.

Tell me about your most memorable Iditarod experiences?:

One of my most memorable experiences to date is yesterday we saw a team practicing for doing the dog handling, and I asked if we could go to Fairbanks and do that also. So, we took the Iditarod dog handling class, and we are official dog handlers now, and are really looking forward to going to Fairbanks for the start of the race.

What do you know for sure?:

What I know for sure in life is that life is a gift, and I was given the gift of one amazing son who supports me being here, and without his support, I probably wouldn’t be here.