David Sawatzky, 59, was born and raised in Minnesota. He moved to Montana in 1981 and from there to Alaska in 1983 for a job. He recently retired from his job as an equipment operator, which he’d done for 25 years. David began running dogs in 1985 and ran the Yukon Quest a few times before first running the Iditarod. David is married to Jeanne and they have two adult children, Nikalus and Sara.