Iditarod Musher Profile

Nancy Yoshida, 58, was born in Illinois. She lived in Arizona, New York, Indiana and Georgia before moving to North Dakota in 1996 when her husband left the Army. They were looking for a "nice place to work and raise our son, Michael, now 19, and settled in Thompson, where my husband joined a medical clinic." Nancy received a BS from Indiana University in 1978 in Occupational Therapy and worked with spinal cord injury and swallowing disorders for 18 years. "We live on a Hobby Farm with a frequently changing number of Alaska Huskies. I started racing in 2002 after my son started getting busy with after school activities and could no longer train and race. Dogs soon became my passion and I quickly decided I liked mid distance better than sprint racing. I love being able to share my dogs with many school children every year. I am truly blessed to be able to enjoy nature this way. Our kennel is called Reach for the Sky because in life, you need to always set and reach for your goals. Our kennel actually began about 11 years ago when we moved to North Dakota. The year before, our son watched the movie Iron Will and saw an article from the Grand Forks Herald. His next comment was, ‘Mom, when we move to ND can we get sled dogs?' I guess you can say the rest is history. I first became interested in the Iditarod when we were fortunate enough to meet Iditarod veterans Vern Halter and Susan Whiton. Throughout the years, we have bought dogs from him and I will stage out of his kennel this winter." Nancy is a member of the Forx Amateur Radio Club, ARRL, ISDRA, Iditarod Trail Committee and PEO. She lists her hobbies as Ham Radio, (KCOYXB), watercolor and photography.