DeeDee Ann Jonrowe (née Stout; born December 20, 1953) is an

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

kennel A kennel is a structure or shelter for dogs. Used in the plural, ''the kennels'', the term means any building, collection of buildings or a property in which dogs are housed, maintained, and (though not in all cases) bred. A kennel can be made o ...

owner and dog musher who is a three-time runner up in the

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod (), is an annual long-distance sled dog race held in Alaska in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of between 12 and 16 dogs, of which at lea ...

. She is a very popular figure in the

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

, and her completion of the 1,049-mile+ (1,600+ km) race in 2003 just three weeks after completing

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

for

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

received widespread

publicity In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization. It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) via the media. The sub ...

History

Jonrowe was born on December 20, 1953, in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany. Her father,

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

officer Kenneth Oliver Stout, was stationed there at the time. She went to school in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, and in 1971 her family moved to

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

where she received a B.S. in

Biological Sciences Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

and Renewable Resources from the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-, National Sea Grant College Program, sea-, and National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, space-grant research university in ...

. In 1977, she married Mike Jonrowe. Jonrowe has also been the spokesperson for the Winter

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Ol ...

, and the National Girl Scouts Council, and was awarded the

Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

's Alaska Woman of Achievement Award. She co-wrote the book ''Iditarod Dreams'' about prepping for the 1993 and 1994 Iditarods, with Lew Freedman. Jonrowe lives in

Willow, Alaska Willow is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located 26 miles northwest from Wasilla along the George Parks Highway, it is part of the Anchorage, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area. At ...

with her husband. She is a kennel owner, and continues racing. By 1979, she had a

with 25 dogs. She is a founder of Mush with P.R.I.D.E. (Providing Responsible Information on a Dog's Environment). She is active in her church. A dog kennel owned by Jonrowe in Willow was destroyed by the 2015 Sockeye fire. Jonrowe also lost her home, several pets and a flock of chickens in the fire. Neither DeeDee Jonrowe or her husband were injured in the fire.

Racing

In 1978, DeeDee Jonrowe competed in her first dog sled race, the Women's Fur Rendezvous World Championship in Anchorage. She has competed in many dog sled races, including the Copper Basin 300 (which she won in 2001), the Klondike 300, and the John Beargrease Dog Sled Race. Jonrowe competed in her first Iditarod in 1980, and again in 1981, 1983, 1984, and then in every race since 1987 for a total of 23 races and 22 finishes. In 1988, she placed in the top 10 for the first time (9th), and has placed in the top 10 a total of 15 times. While she has never won the race, she was the 2nd-place finisher in three races (1996, 1993, and 1998). Her 1998 finish in second place with a time of 9 days, 8 hours, 26 minutes, and 10 seconds is the fastest time recorded for a woman. She is the only musher who competed in both the Iditarod and the Alpirod for three straight years (1992, 1993, and 1994). She has won a total of USD $335,804. She is most widely known because of the publicity surrounding three setbacks. In 1996, an

automobile accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collision, collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, Utility pole ...

outside

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a Municipal home rule, home rule city and the county seat, borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior Alaska, interior region of Alaska and the second la ...

killed her grandmother, and both Jonrowe and her husband were

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

ized. She trained while recovering from her injuries, and placed 4th in the 1997 Iditarod. A more minor incident was a dog mutiny on the

Yukon River The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S ...

in 1999. While racing the Iditarod, her dogs refused to go into a strong head

wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

and she was forced to scratch for the first time. She was forced to scratch in the 2007 Iditarod after suffering from hand and other injuries after sustaining a fall near the Rainy Pass checkpoint. In July 2002, Jonrowe was diagnosed with

. Three weeks after completing

, she competed in the Iditarod, placing 18th. The story was widely publicized, and in 2003 she won the Most Inspirational Musher Award, and was named the honorary chair of the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

's Relay for Life. Dog mushing in Alaska can be hazardous. According to ''Women Warriors'' (2004) Jonrowe said, "I've had back surgery, frozen my shoulder, broken my hand…I think I've had every single cold related injury. I haven't had any amputations, but I have had severe

frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when someone is exposed to extremely low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occ ...

on my fingers, cheeks and nose. I even frostbit my

cornea The cornea is the transparency (optics), transparent front part of the eyeball which covers the Iris (anatomy), iris, pupil, and Anterior chamber of eyeball, anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and Lens (anatomy), lens, the cornea ...

s some years ago". Numerous items pertaining to Jonrowe's career, including a

parka A parka, like the related anorak, is a type of coat (clothing), coat with a hood (headgear), hood, that may be lining (sewing), lined with fur or fake fur. Parkas and anoraks are staples of Inuit clothing, traditionally made from Reindeer, cari ...

, dog tags, and trading cards, are in the collection of the

National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center is a historical museum in Washington, D.C. It collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and m ...

.https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search?edan_q=%22Jonrowe%2C%20DeeDee%22

References

* Anchorage Daily News (February 24, 2005)
A princess on the runners
* Betty Bailey
Sports hero: DeeDee Jonrowe
''My Hero''. Retrieved March 17, 2005. * Iditarod Musher DeeDee Jonrowe

. Retrieved March 17, 2005. * Women Warriors (2004)
DeeDee Jonrowe
Retrieved March 17, 2005.

External links

DeeDee Jonrowe's site

Mush with P.R.I.D.E. site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonrowe, DeeDee 1953 births Dog mushers from Alaska Living people People from Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni American women writers Sportspeople from Frankfurt 21st-century American women Women dog mushers

History

Racing

References

Further reading

External links