HUMAN

Name: Krista Maciolek

Age:  61

Residence: Palmer, Alaska

Occupation: Retired Attorney

First Year Ran Iditarod:   1992

How Many Years Involved With Iditarod: 8

Iditarod Role: Musher

Current Location: Iditarod Headquarters, Wasilla, Alaska

Date of Photo: June 27, 2026

Temperature: 62F outdoors

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

So when I was running sled dogs, I loved the solitude. I loved being out in the woods with my dogs, that’s in nature and the different personalities and just feeling like you’re on the trail with a bunch of buddies, just getting from point A to point B. But honestly, it was just being out there and hanging out with the dogs and their different personalities and just having a lot of fun with them.

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

 

So I was very young and I was living in Talkeetna and I met my ex who was into dogs and he kind of introduced me to dogs. Someone introduced him to Iditarod. That’s how I got into Iditarod. And then it was like, okay, this is a lot of work. I’m going to do Iditarod. I’m going to do it myself. So we toggled back and forth. He did it one year. I did another so on and so on for eight years. I did six Iditarods in eight years. So I just fell into it. I really did. It was nothing that I had planned or prepared for, which I think was an advantage because if you know too much ahead of time, you won’t get into it. So yeah, I just more or less stumbled into it.

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

 

Well, I’m glad you said one of, because there’s a lot, but one of is I remember being Unalakleet and Shaktoolik. I think it was out of Shaktoolik and it was a clear night and the stars were just by the square inch. The northern lights were out. It was the year of the Hale-Bopp comet, I think, and the Milky Way, you could see Mars. I mean, it was just the most expansive moment ever. And I’m pretty sure I was the only… Well, I know I was the only musher. I had just left a checkpoint and I just remember just stopping and saying, “I have got to take this in for this moment.” So yeah, that was quite a memorable experience.

Question 4: What in life do you know for sure?

 

What I know for sure, I do know one thing for sure and that is never say never because when I was younger, I never thought I’d be an Iditarod musher. After I finished my Iditarod years, I went on to law school. Believe me, when I was an Iditarod musher, I never thought I would become an attorney. And so on and so on and so on. That’s the only thing I know in life is just never say never.