Moment

WE WERE ADOPTING DOGS FROM THE SHELTER AND JUST HAVING A BUNCH OF FUN WITH THEM AND GOING ON TRIPS AND DOING A BUNCH OF WINTER EXPLORATION. THEN,

SOMEONE WAS LIKE, ‘OH, YOU SHOULD TRY RACING WITH THEM AS A WAY TO SEE NEW PLACES AND EXPLORE NEW TRAILS.’”

Paige Drobny ’97

A HOWLING SUCCESS

To read more about Paige Drobny and to view her final results in the 2022 Iditarod, visit vtx.vt.edu.

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A DOGGED COMMITMENT TO DOG SLEDDING

IN 2004, PAIGE DROBNY ’97 MOVED to Alaska for a job as a fisheries biologist, but her love of dogs and exploring the beautiful Alaskan landscape led to an unexpected passion project. Though she and her husband, Cody Strathe, have several “real” jobs, they spend much of their time, energy, and investment participating in dog sledding events. The couple originally adopted a few dogs as companions for their explorations throughout Alaska. Now, they’re mushers on a national scale.

“We were adopting dogs from the shelter and just having a bunch of fun with them and going on trips and doing a bunch of winter exploration,” Drobny said. “Then, someone was like, ‘Oh, you should try racing with them as a way to see new places and explore new trails.’ “So, I signed up for the Yukon Quest 300. I was told that was the hardest 300-mile race in the state, so I thought, ‘OK, I’ll do this one, and I’ll hate it, and we can go back to our normal life of traveling with dogs.’” Drobny finished sixth. But something happened at the finish line. “The dogs were having so much fun that I was addicted and hooked,” she said. On March 5, Drobny and her team of barking canines took off on the Iditarod—the nation’s premier dog sledding event. The Iditarod is a 1,000-mile gauntlet that forces mushers to survive a snow-packed, treacherous route and occasionally brave temperatures that dip to 40 below zero.

This year’s Iditarod marked the ninth of Drobny’s career. She has pocketed more than $75,000 in prize money, with a career-best finish of seventh, but the prize money barely covers the costs of caring for the 49 dogs in their kennel. Drobny, who graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in biology, and Strathe supplement their income in different ways. She runs a fisheries consulting business, writing grants and proposals for research projects, and he builds skin-frame kayaks, wooden paddles, and dogsleds. They also give tours of the Alaskan wilderness, and this summer, they’re opening a lodge. Their home sits in a remote area near tiny Cantwell, Alaska. They drive a dogsled 54 miles to town and then make an additional three-hour drive in a truck just to get groceries. But they love being out in nature, and their land offers the perfect location to train their dogs. “It’s definitely a passion project,” Drobny said. “It’s something that we love to do. It’s a lifestyle that we live and love.” JR