HUMAN

Name: Kattijo Deeter

Age: 36

Residence: Fairbanks, Alaska

Occupation: I own a dog sledding tour business.

Years involved with Iditarod: Since 2018

Iditarod Role: Historically as a handler and wife to a musher, and now I am a musher.

Current Location: Ceremonial Race Start, 4th Ave, Downtown Anchorage, Alaska
Date of Photo: March 5, 2022

Temperature: 32 F Outdoors Dumping Snow

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

I first became involved with the Iditarod in 2018 when my husband Jeff Deeter ran his second Iditarod.

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

I am here today and involved with Iditarod because I am now a musher. This is my rookie running of the Iditarod, 2022.

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

One of my most memorable Iditarod experiences to date was the first time that I went tag sledding through Anchorage. That was in 2018 with my husband who was running. And that was just so amazing. I remember telling him that he needed to run Iditarod every year because I wanted to be able to tag sled through Anchorage every year. That was also a really difficult race for him, 2018. He ran seven of our dogs 500 miles, the last 500 miles of the race, so that was a really small team. And I just remember being so proud of him and our dogs at the finish line. There were a lot of really young dogs in that team, so that was very special for us as a couple and as a kennel. And this year, I’m looking forward to making my own memorable experiences and of course, crossing that finish line with my own team.

What do you know for sure?

What I know for sure in life is that things change. Change is the only thing we can be sure of. And that’s why it’s so important to seize every opportunity today because it might not be there tomorrow.