The Women We are Following

Rachael Scordis ~Our first choice
Rachael Scdoris
Bend, OR, USA
Rachael Scdoris, 24, was born in Oregon and graduated from Redmond High School in 2003. She says her occupation is sled dog racer and tour operator. Rachael was born with Congenital Achromatopsia, a rare vision disorder. She is colorblind and her acuity is 20/200. She is extremely light sensitive. She is a member of the Central Oregon Resources for Independent Living and the United States Association of Blind Athletes. Rachael was honored by the Women's Sports Foundation in New York City as one of the top women athletes in America. She served as Captain of her high school track and cross country teams. Rachael has been mushing since she was three years old and finished her first Iditarod in 2006. She says, "I love everything about dog mushing--working with dogs in the outdoors, the competition, and the ability to use all of my past experiences to improve my team. The Iditarod embodies all these things." Rachael enjoys "anything outdoors not involving a ball."
Learn more at Rachael’s website: www.rachaelscdoris.com

Jen Seavey
Jen Seavey
Seward, AK, USA
Jen Seavey, 22, was born in Montana. She grew up on large cattle ranches in Montana and New Mexico. She says she's been working with animals her whole live and started training horses when she was six years old. She didn't grow up around sled dogs and didn't know any mushers, but "when I was in first grade, I decided that I was going to move to Alaska and run the Iditarod." Her dad made her a sled out of a milk crate and some old skis. She harnessed her German shepherd in a horse halter and made him tow her around. "When I was 18, I stumbled upon an ad on the Internet for handlers at the Seavey's Iditarod Racing Kennel. After a couple of phone calls, I decided that college would have to wait, and I bought a one-way ticket to Alaska. I met my husband, Dallas Seavey, when he picked me up at the airport. I handled for the Seavey kennel for two winters and worked as a tour guide in the summers. Dallas and I now spend our summers in Anchorage running the WildRide Sled Dog Rodeo." Her hobbies are horsemanship, dog training and writing.

Karin Hendrickson
Karin Hendrickson
Chugiak, AK, USA
Karin Hendrickson, 38, 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. Now I have a small kennel of talented young dogs, and it is time to shoot for the Iditarod." 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.
Learn more at Karin’s website: www.blueonblackdogs.com