HUMAN
Name: John Wood
Age: 78 years young
Residence: Lower Fire Lake near Eagle River, Alaska
Occupation: Semi-Retired Engineer
First Year Ran Iditarod: 1978
Years involved with Iditarod: From 1978-1986
Iditarod Role: Musher, Board of Directors, Race Judge
Current Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Date of Photo: December 27, 2025
Temperature: 68F inside
What is/was your first and continuing motivation to run sled dogs?
My first motivation to run sled dogs was when I lived in Healy and I was working for the Usibelli coal mine. Another guy and I decided we were going to run a trap line after work. The first year we ran a trap line, it was by foot and it was fairly short. I ran into a couple of guys who had a few dogs and had small dog teams. And all of a sudden I figured, “Man, if I had a few dogs and had a dog team, I could run a longer trap line.” And I had no interest in running snow machines at all so this seemed like it was right up my alley.
Question 2: What, who or how and when & why did you first get involved running the Iditarod?
I got involved running the Iditarod, first off, the first Iditarod captured my imagination. Of course, I was still living in Healy and was running a trap line team. The second Iditarod, we drove to Anchorage and I actually got into the start line. There were no other photographers around, and one of the ladies said, “Well, you look like you might represent the press from Healy.” And so, they allowed me into the holding pen and I photographed a lot of the mushers as they were getting their sleds ready and hooking up their dogs. Later on, I went out to the Eklutna Flats and photographed them as they went by the flats.
Tell me about just one of your most memorable experiences running the Iditarod:
My most memorable experience in the Iditarod was in 1982. Sue Firman and I left Rohn Checkpoint ahead of all the other mushers who were taking their 24. We were mushing along in the Farewell Lakes area when a group of buffalo appeared right in the middle of the trail. We were also out on a small lake. I stopped the dogs, tried to scare the bison off. They didn’t want to move so I grabbed about a 20-foot-long spruce tree that, this was in the burn and they were all burned, and I started swinging it over my head and walking towards the buffalo. They didn’t move, so I started running at them and hollering at the top of my lungs. I got close enough to, I figured maybe I made a big mistake because they weren’t moving. When all of a sudden a couple of the cows and calves broke for the shore and the two bulls that were standing in the middle of the trail looking at me, saw them moving and looked over the shoulder and decided , well, maybe they’d go to the shore also.”
The trail was clear and we were able to continue mushing, but I almost got scared.
What in life do you know for sure?:
What I know for sure in life is, and I’m going to quote from the lyrics of a song that I sometimes sing, it’s called “’Til You Can’t” by Cody Johnson. And the stanza goes, “If you’ve got a chance, take it. Take it while you’ve got a chance. If you’ve got a dream, chase it, because the dream won’t chase you back.” And it’s true. It will not chase you back. And you keep doing that until you can’t. Be passionate with all that you do.