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Colleen was a Rookie in 2010.
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Bio
Kasilof, AK
www.rogueskennel.com
Colleen Robertia, 33, was born and in
Pennsylvania and raised in Massachusetts. She
received her B.S. degree in 1998 in New York, with
a major in Environmental Biology and a minor in
African Studies. She then worked as a zookeeper
caring for threatened and endangered species of
large hoof stock (elephants, rhinos, giraffe,
antelope) and big cats (lions, leopards, jaguars
and cheetahs) in Georgia for the Wildlife
conservation Society and then for the Jacksonville
Zoo in Florida. She says, "We quite our jobs at the
zoo to thru-hike the 2,168 mile Appalachian Trail
from Georgia to Maine. It was a period of deep
introspection. We figured out what was important to
us in life and moved to Alaska looking for a life
closer to nature, with potential for adventured and
with more genuine people." Since coming to Alaska,
she has worked as a youth counselor. She began
mushing in the fall of 2003 and says, "Having
worked several years for a former Iditarod
champion, Iditarod has always been the ‘BIG
FINISH' of the season. As a handler I would train
dogs all season only to see them get leased to
others for the Race. Now with my own kennel,
running thousands of miles with my own dogs,
Iditarod is OUR end goal." A Yukon Quest finisher,
she has won some mid-distance races in Alaska and
has received the Humanitarian Award several times
for her devotion to her dogs. Colleen says, "My
dogs are my family and best friends. For me the
appeal of the Iditarod is to travel with them as
one unit, working together, to travel across Alaska
as competitively and humanely as possible. As with
all races I compete in, my team will be made up of
several rogues, to include many runt, rescues and
rejects from animal shelters and other mushers. I
have worked hard to overcome many of the
physiological/behavioral issues of the dogs in my
kennel, and I take pride in all the work my husband
and I have put into them - without the aid of
handlers or helpers and while both are maintaining
full time jobs. I don't define my success by how
well I do against other mushers. Rather I define it
by how well I do with my own dogs and how well my
message reaches race supporters and spectators. My
message is simply yet comes from the fiber of my
being which is: you can have a competitive team and
live by a humane philosophy. Perhaps I'm not
considered to have the best of the best in terms of
canine athletes, but I try to do my best with the
dogs I have, and they do their best with me." When
asked about hobbies and interests other than dogs
and mushing, she says, "Pulling pranks on my
husband and neighbors, spending money on my dogs
that I don't have (or ever will), and getting my
niece and nephew to believe outrageous stories
(like I caught a leprechaun in my house so he gave
me his pot of gold, when really it was gold I won
in a race) and then having them repeat the stories
to their parents who call me mad. I also enjoy
backpacking, camping, hiking and playing sports.
She is married to Joseph.
Results
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