HUMAN

Name: Kelley Griffin

Age: 66
Residence: Foothills of the Alaska Range, Alaska

Occupation: Retired from a lot of things— Retired from dog mushing. Retired from horseshoeing, retired from flagging, just about anything I could manage to make a buck from.

First Year Ran Iditarod: 2005

How Many Years Involved With Iditarod: 5+

Iditarod Role: Musher, Handler

Current Location: Palmer, Alaska

Date of Photo: April 9, 2026
Temperature: 64F indoors

Question 1: What is it about running sled dogs that you love so much?

What I love about running sled dogs is the magic of working with a crew that loves their job and you just hit the runners, you hit the rivers, you hit the trails and you’re traveling. It’s quiet, the dogs are just grooving on it and they see a moose and they groove on it even more. But it’s just the joy, the sheer joy of working with these guys. I’ve never come across a feeling like it, and I’m getting kind of old.

Question 2: What, who or how and when & why did you first get involved running the Iditarod?

 

I got involved with running the Iditarod because of the romance. The 1st time I saw a start. It was out was going through Wasilla. I can’t remember where I was, but it seems like they were crossing Lake Lucille. And just the adventure they were going on, you know, you already know it’s a thousand miles, and it’s a dog team, and it’s just— how do people do that? That is so awesome. That’s so cool. And it just touched my heart. And then I got into running dogs more. I’d been running dogs by myself, doing it absolutely the hardest way, where you were reinventing a wheel. And I had a little trap line, I had a trap line dogs. I had weight- pull dogs, which was really good at weight pull. And then I also had a neighbor named Frank Sihler. And I’ve been running the Quest, and one day when he was signing up for Iditarod, he says, “Well, how come you don’t run the Iditarod?” I guess I never really thought about it. I was pretty invested in the Quest. I said, oh, okay. So I went and wrote a hot check and signed up. And that was 2005.

 

Question 3:  Tell me about just one of your most memorable Iditarod experiences running the Iditarod.

 

So my most memorable Iditarod experience was in 2011 between Ophir and Iditarod, it’s all just open country there, and the land hits the sky. It’s beautiful at night. And my brother just passed away the August before. And when I was crossing up in there, The northern lights were spectacular. They were like all the way to the ground. I’ve never seen them like that before, never seen them since like that. And all I could think was, it was my brother, you know, and he was just hugging me all the way across there. My most memorable, yep.

What in life do you know for sure?:

 

What I know for sure in life is, we’re gonna die, every one of us. And I can’t be more profound than that. I guess what we can strive to do is live without regrets and be completely honest with ourselves and do the best we can do while we’re here and just love.