Iditarod Musher Profile

Karin Hendrickson, 39, was born and raised in California. She graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1991 and has lived in Idaho and Colorado working as a teacher and college student. She now works in Environmental Regulation here in Alaska, where she moved in 2003 to run dogs. "My mom had been coming to Alaska to volunteer for the Iditarod since 1998, long before I knew a thing about sled dogs or how they would take over my life. In 2002, she talked me into coming up to volunteer. I returned to volunteer again in 2003 and that is when I knew my future. I sold my house and everything in it, quit my job and headed north. I spent two years learning the ropes and paying my dues as a handler. I loved the lifestyle and running dogs - then I got to run a race (the 2005 Tustumena 200) and that got me hooked even worse. For the last couple of years I've been working on building my own kennel and racing my own dogs. Iditarod 2009 was my rookie year. It was the most fun I've ever had. My dogs convinced me we had to go again." Before dogs, she says she used to telemark ski, rock climb, white water kayak, train horses, hike etc. Now, she says between working full time and training, she barely has time to sleep. Karin is married to Varan Hoyt.