HUMAN

Name: JOHN REICHERT
Age: 67
Residence: HARWOOD, NORTH DAKOTA
Occupation: VETERINARIAN
Years involved with Iditarod: 15
Iditarod Role: CHECKPOINT VETERINARIAN
Current Location: TAKOTNA, ALASKA
Date of Photo: MARCH 7, 2019
Temperature: 32F / OUTDOORS

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

I THINK IT’S PROBABLY THE ATHLETES, THE MUSHERS, AND ALL THE VOLUNTEERS; EVERYBODY PULLING TOGETHER FOR THE SAKE OF THE DOGS.

Tell me about your most rewarding experience on Iditarod?:

PROBABLY THE FIRST TIME WE RAN OUT OF FAIRBANKS. BACK IN THE EARLY 2000’S WE WENT UP AND DOWN THE YUKON AND WE WERE OUT ON EAGLE ISLAND. AND WE HELPED THE WINNER THAT YEAR GET THROUGH HIS 24-HOUR AND GET HIM BACK UP GOING AGAIN, AS WE WERE A LITTLE BIT TIGHT ON SUPPLIES AND GETTING OURSELVES SET UP OUT AT EAGLE ISLAND ON THE YUKON. AND WE HAD KIND OF A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE THERE LAST YEAR. AND THAT ONE WAS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MORE MEMORABLE ONES. WE WERE A LITTLE SHORT ON WATER AND PROPANE, BUT WITH THE CAMP BOSSES THERE – MOST NOTABLY, TYRELL SEAVEY – IT ALL WENT PRETTY WELL. OUR COMMS CONSISTED OF A SAT PHONE AND A PAIR OF BINOCULARS.

What do you know for sure?:

THAT HOPEFULLY WE’RE GOING TO GET ANOTHER SUNRISE. THERE’S AN AD OUT THAT WE GET ABOUT SO MANY 1000 SUNRISES IN OUR LIFE. AND SO WHEN YOU GET A CHANCE TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS, IT’S SOMETHING THAT I LOOK FORWARD TO.