Growing up in California, I had cats and surfed. Things have changed a bit. Now I live in the high desert of Eastern Washington with 20 purebred Siberian Huskies and dream of running a sleddog team through the Alaskan wilderness as a participant in the 2007 Norman Vaughan Serum Run. It all started when I met a guy (he later became my husband) with a gorgeous Siberian Husky named Olaf. I got a female Siberian as a companion for Olaf while I was in graduate school. A chewed-through chain link fence later (plus about 2 months), we had the beginnings of our first team. When my husband died from cancer, 10 years ago, I was left with 7 Siberians. Running dogs had been my husband's passion (I was busy with graduate school) and I had only run the dogs a few terrifying times. Friends and family asked if I was going to keep 'all those dogs'. For me there was no choice, they were our family and I wanted to better understand what this sport that so captivated my husband was about. My first year running dogs made me very mad. Why hadn't he told me how fabulous this thing called mushing was?!!! While I'm not able to share running dogs with him, this year I am looking forward to sharing the experiences of the Serum Run with my fellow participants.

In 1998, I moved to Pullman, WA with 7 dogs to take a faculty position at Washington State University. Equally challenging to running dogs is running a research laboratory, training students and post-doctoral fellows, teaching pharmacy students and all the activities that an academic career requires. I am fortunate to work with a wonderful group of researchers who share my drive to find new approaches to cure cancer. The history of the serum run to deliver diphtheria antitoxin by dog team relay to Nome resonates with me not only as a dog musher but also as a biomedical scientist and educator.

Over the past 10 years my kennel has grown as has my love for the sport of mushing, and has developed in ways I could never have predicted. Participating in the Serum Run is a dream primed to become a reality for me. And yeah, it's a long way from cats and surfing the Californian wavesŠ.