HUMAN

Name: Wade Marrs
Age: 29
Residence: A little north of Willow, Alaska.
Occupation: My occupation is a dog musher and a commercial fisherman.
Years involved with Iditarod: This is my 10th race. 
Iditarod Role: Musher.
Current Location: Willow, Alaska 

Date of Photo: March 8, 2020
Temperature: 24F/Outdoors

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

So I got involved with the Iditarod through my uncle, who first got me involved in mushing when I was just a little kid. I ran my first two-dog race when I was five years old. And then growing up, he passed away when I was nine, and when I was about 13 I met Rayme Redington out on Iditarod trail training dogs one night. And he gave me a headlamp to get home with, and he told me to come by and visit. So I went down to his house and visited, and from there we became really good friends. And I worked tours with him and trained dogs with him a lot, and ran the junior Iditarod and stuff. And I had a few of their dogs in the Iditarod my first year, and a lot of my breed comes from the Redingtons. 

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

I’m here today and involved with the Iditarod because it just is an amazing adventure, and an adventure with my amazing dogs as well. So it’s great to be out here and doing this challenge. And I love the lives that it touches. You get to touch a lot of people out here, the people in the villages, the fans that are watching, the volunteers; all of it. So that’s really amazing.

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

One of my most memorable Iditarod experiences was meeting my now wife at the Iditarod vet checks in Wasilla, so I’ll never forget that day. And without Iditarod, that meeting would have never happened. So I’m always grateful for that.

What do you know for sure?:

What I know for sure in life is that I love dog mushing and that I’ll always run the Iditarod as long as the Iditarod is here, and I’m always going to be very excited for it.