HUMAN

Name: William Koeppen

Age: 40

Residence: Anchorage, Alaska

Occupation: Photographer

Years involved with Iditarod: Just 1

Iditarod role: Trail crew in Unalakleet

Current Location: Unalakleet, Alaska

Date of Photo: March 16, 2020
Temperature: 30F/Outdoors

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

I got involved with Iditarod a few years ago with a big party in Anchorage called Trailgate. And that was mostly taking photos of dogs as they’re coming through and running through the ceremonial start. Everyone’s having a great time. And then our friends Joe Meyer and Molly Foster basically encouraged us to apply, my partner and I to apply to volunteer. So, she did trail comms in Finger Lake, and I’m doing trail crew in Unalakleet.

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

I am here today and involved with Iditarod because I think it’s just a really interesting experience. There’s so many aspects I think to Iditarod. I mean, and maybe it means different things to different people; so, maybe some people it’s just about dogs. I think for me it’s about connecting communities and having this cool thing that brings people from outside into villages and gets us all to meet people outside of our comfort zone a little bit and see interesting landscapes that I would never… I would never have a purpose in Unalakleet if not for the Iditarod, so it’s really cool to get out and see stuff.

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

One of my most memorable Iditarod experiences is, at least on the volunteer side of it, is a lot of hurry up and wait. So, we spend a lot of time getting ready for the right moment and then waiting for the right moment until it gets here. Then finally it gets here, and it’s things are busy! Then it’s very slow for a while. So I feel like I should have brought more games on my experience to have stuff in between. Maybe a Frisbee, but then I didn’t want to bring a Frisbee because dogs, and who knows what would happen. Just the process of stop and go has been really memorable.

What do you know for sure?:

What I know for sure in life is that we are more connected to each other than we are disconnected. If someone needs help, you’re going to help them. If I need help, somebody’s going to help me, and even with all the other stuff going on in the world, I think that we are more similar than we are dissimilar.