HUMAN

Name: Thomas Rosenbloom
Age: 34
Residence: Knik, Alaska
Occupation: Director of Implementation for a Software Company
Years involved with Iditarod: A little over 10 years
Iditarod Role: Spectator today, Iditarod veteran musher
Current Location: Downtown Anchorage Ceremonial Start, Anchorage, Alaska

Date of Photo: March 1, 2025
Temperature: 30F outside

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

I volunteered for the 2014 race after my dad moved up to Alaska. In my first trip to Alaska, I fell in love with it. I caught this bug of running the Iditarod myself after watching a documentary series that the Discovery Channel did many years ago called The Toughest Race on Earth, which is this great documentary series. I was absolutely hooked. I thought this was the coolest thing in the world. I knew then and there that I had to run the Iditarod before I died.
So I reached out to my dad and said, “Hey, I’m going to run the Iditarod.” At the time I was living in the state of Georgia. Not a lot of snow there, not a lot of sled dogs.
And he’s like, “Maybe we should talk about this.” He sends me his collection of sled dog books, because I found out later he’d gotten obsessed with the race as well.
We get this big old box of books in the mail, and I just started reading everything I can get my hands on about the Iditarod and other sled dog races and dog mushing in general. And the bug really kind of developed from, “Oh, I’m going to run the Iditarod before I die,” to, “I’m going to run the Iditarod.”
So I started applying to different sled dog kennels and ended up with the Santos kennel in Cantwell, Alaska, just small native village in the interior of Alaska. And no promises of running the Iditarod. Just had to work my way up. So first year it’s a steep learning curve, but Mike gave me a lot of opportunity and Kaitlyn gave me a lot of opportunity, and I raised a team of their puppies all the way up until their Iditarod. So I was there over the course of three years. Puppies that were just little burritos in my hand to running their first race at Iditarod. So it was a really special experience to be able to be part of their entire lives and feel a lot of responsibility for them and so much connection and gratitude, which is ultimately what I love about dog mushing so much is the relationship that you develop with these dogs. They’re humbling in every way, the amazing things that they can do.
And so that, for me, is what’s most important. The Iditarod, it’s an excuse for us to go and do the things that we do. If we were just doing what we were doing, messing around in the woods, people think we’re even crazier than we actually are. This race gives us something to work towards with the dogs, which is really, really special. And why I think it’s so important to have this opportunity for people like myself to catch that bug and go after their dream. And I can’t think of something in my life that’s been more impactful to making me who I am today than participating in dog mushing and eventually the Iditarod.

What is your Why? Why are you here TODAY and involved with the Iditarod?

Today I still think it’s so important for young people to be able to come and participate in this art and lifestyle. What I care most about it is the same thing that Joe Redington Sr cared most about, which is preserving the dogs. We want to make sure that dog mushing exists in our culture forever and ever, and if we don’t participate in it and support in it in every way that we can, it could disappear, and we don’t want that to happen. So that’s what is really most important to me and why I continue to stay involved year after year after.

Tell me about your most memorable Iditarod experiences?:

Well, there’s a lot of memorable experiences, and it’s also, at the same time, it’s all such a blur when you look back on it. There are times, like I mentioned before, it’s 60 below on the river and you’re dancing on the runners as best you can. I will say, one of the most iconic moments for me in Iditarod is when you finally see the coastline. When you finally are approaching Unalakleet, and you see that coastline, it’s a magical moment to reflect back and know what you’ve already covered and what’s in front of you. So it gets me choked up still today.
And going through the Blueberry Hills….I hit it right at either sunrise or sunset. I can’t remember anymore, but it’s just a spectacular moment. So yeah, those are really, really memorable moments.

What do you know for sure?:

The dogs never lie. The dogs will absolutely never lie to you, and that’s one of the things I just love the most about them is their honesty.