HUMAN

Name: MATT FAILOR
Age: 36
Residence: WILLOW, ALASKA
Occupation: TOUR OPERATOR AND PROFESSIONAL DOG MUSHER
Years involved with Iditarod: SINCE 2010
Iditarod Role: MUSHER
Current Location: FINGER LAKE, ALASKA
Date of Photo: MARCH 4, 2019
Temperature: 15F / OUTDOORS

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

WHY, WELL, I REALLY CARE AND LOVE MY DOGS, MY TEAM. THEY’RE DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR LONG-DISTANCE MUSHING, SO THAT’S WHY I LOVE COMING HERE.

Tell me about your most rewarding experience on Iditarod?:

AND WHAT’S YOUR NORMAL OCCUPATION? I GUESS THIS IS IT. YEAH. I’M A DOG MUSHER – TOUR OPERATOR AND PROFESSIONAL DOG MUSHER. AND WAS THERE EVER A TIME YOU THOUGHT ABOUT GIVING UP ON IDITAROD? IN A RACE, THAT IS. YEAH, A COUPLE YEARS AGO WHEN I HAD A KNIFE ACCIDENT. I PUT MY KNIFE IN MY KNEE. AND, YOU KNOW, I DIDN’T KNOW IF I WAS GOING TO BE WITHDRAWN. AND THEN ONCE I REALIZED THAT, YEAH, I WAS OKAY. I DIDN’T HIT ANY, LIKE, ARTERY OR ANYTHING, THEY SAID “YOU’RE FREE TO CONTINUE”. SO THEN I JUST STARTED WEIGHING THE PROS AND CONS. SO THAT WAS WHEN I THOUGHT I WOULD PROBABLY NOT FINISH. BUT I TOOK A 24 AND THEN FINISHED.

What do you know for sure?:

I KNOW THAT I AM A DOG PERSON. I KNOW THAT I LOVE DOGS AND I KNOW THAT I AM REALLY AT PEACE IN THE WOODS WITH MY ANIMALS.