Paul Hansen, 61, was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He attended Colorado State University from 1974 to 1979 and received a degree in Environmental Health. In 1980, he moved to Kotzebue to work the Public Health Service/Maniilaq Association. “Part of that job was to travel to villages to provide rabies vaccinations. There were quite a few dog teams in the villages back then and I became interested in dogs and been involved since then. We have a small family kennel. My wife, Margaret, and adult children, Hans, Glenn, Kevin and Scott, have all run in the Kotzebue Dog Mushers Association sprint races. I started distance racing about five years ago have since run the Kobuk 440 and Nome to Council races. Iditarod has always been a dream of mine. This is the year!”