HUMAN

Name: Roxy Wright

Age: 75
Residence: Fairbanks, Alaska

Occupation: Retired Dog Musher

How many Years involved with Iditarod: Lots.. sprint musher for 50 years

First Year Ran Iditarod: 1983

Iditarod Role: Musher

Current Location: Anchorage, Alaska

Date of Photo: March 6, 2026
Temperature: 68F, indoors

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

What I love about running sled dogs is the bond between the musher and the dogs, and it’s just special. I grew up, my dad was a champion musher of the Rendezvous and the North American before I was ever born, so I grew up with dogs. From the time I was just a little girl, that’s what I wanted to do when I grew up was to be a dog musher, so I did spend my life running dogs.

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

How I got involved with the Iditarod was I’d been sprint mushing and then the Iditarod started and many of the mushers that first ran it had been running in the sprint racing, so I knew many of them. About 10 years into it, them running the Iditarod, I thought, “Oh, I think I’d like to go do that.” The winter I ran the Iditarod, I also ran the Anchorage for Rendezvous. I came in sixth at the Fur Rendezvous, open race, and then 10 days later I left on the Iditarod with the exact team. I came in 23rd at the Iditarod and it was just an awesome bunch of dogs.

 

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

The question is my most memorable experience running the Iditarod is. I think just being out there by myself, especially at night in the northern lights. I didn’t travel with anybody, so it was just me and my dogs. That’s a long ways to go with just you and your dogs, and it was awesome.

What in life do you know for sure?:

 

What I know for sure in life is people should find what they love to do and follow their dreams. Because if you do what you love, then you’re always … It’s never work. It’s always a joy. I think it’s important to try to live a joyful life, and so I was blessed in that I had got to run dogs.