HUMAN

Name: Shelley Gill
Age: 65
Residence: I live in Homer and I’m a writer.
Occupation: I write children’s books and I’m a naturalist and I’m a humpback whale researcher.
Years involved with Iditarod: I’ve been involved with the Iditarod since 1976. I raced in 1978 and so I’m a musher. I also was race judge on the trail in 1979.
Current Location: Dena’ina Center, Anchorage, Alaska. 
Date of Photo: March 6, 2020
Temperature: 68F/Indoors

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

I got involved with Iditarod because I read White Fang when I was nine years old in South Florida, and I just dreamed of having an adventure like that. I didn’t want to grow up to be Barbie. And so when I finished high school I jumped in my Volkswagen bus and headed north and within a few years I had 50 dogs and I was living up on the Denali Highway long before anybody used the Denali Highway to train. And it’s amazing, I’m still hooked into Iditarod in 2020.

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

I’m here today and still involved with Iditarod because it’s an adventure that children really appreciate. And children need all the help they can get in this world now. And I’ve written 31 children’s books and I want kids to understand that there’s still these huge, wonderful life-changing personal quests that you can take. And the Iditarod is one of them. And so I’m still in love with the romance of the race. It’s gotten really big and I just want to be out there dancing right now while they’re giving speeches. But it’s something that really gets under your skin. It’s a way of life and it’s a hope.

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

One of my most memorable Iditarod experiences happened between Old Woman and Shaktoolik. And I finally left the party I was traveling with Behind for Good. And so I went through the whole Old Woman Hills and to Unalakleet and then through the Blueberry Hills, down to Shaktoolik by myself. And I’ll never forget the morning coming down the Blueberry Hills. It was just magnificent. It was like one of those bluebird days. And what is that? That’s like 900 miles into the race. And suddenly I wasn’t afraid anymore. I had gone into Elim at one point and I saw Mrs. Lincoln. She was waiting on the river for one of the women to come in, me. It was three in the morning. She was in her eighties and she said, “Aren’t you afraid out there?” And I remember looking at her and going, “Uh oh, am I supposed to be?” But then just the joy of the whole race and the beautiful country just struck me and I coasted into Nome on a cloud of joy.

What do you know for sure?:

Oh, for sure in life that the Iditarod taught me is I can walk a thousand miles. That’s a big dang deal! I mean, when you know that you can actually propel your body across country that is pretty daunting, and you can do that for days. That’s a really cool thing to know about yourself, that you don’t give up, that you may not be the fastest or the flashiest, but by golly, you’re going to get there. And that’s the turtle and the hare, man. I’m the turtle, but I got there.