Alaska Sports Hall of Fame

Remembering Susan Butcher as the Iditarod starts up, this is the clip from the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame.

SUSAN BUTCHER (Dec. 25, 1954 - Aug. 5, 2006)
Susan Butcher grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, began dog mushing in Colorado, and became a legend in Alaska with four victories in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race between 1986 and 1990. Tutored by race founder and good friend Joe Redington Sr., who announced to the world Butcher would become a champion, the hard-nosed competitor was renowned for her single-minded focus and checkpoint acumen.
Her record-setting three victories in a row between 1986 and 1988 have been equalled, but not surpassed. Twice Butcher set speed records in the 1,100-mile race between Anchorage and Nome and she won a variety of other middle-distance mushing races. Butcher made herIditarod debut in 1978 in 19th place. In addition to her Iditarod victories, Butcher placed second four times,third once, fourth once, and fifth twice before retiringafter the 1994 race.
In 1979, Butcher and Redington, accompanied by a photographer and aided by mountain guide Ray Genet, performed the seemingly impossible feat of driving dog teams to the summit of 20,320 - foot Mount McKinley, the tallest peak in North America.
In three of Butcher’s Iditarod triumphs, the key lead dog was Granite, perhaps the most famous canine leader in race history. One of her other special huskies was Tekla, whom she credited with once saving her life and for whom she named her first child.
Butcher’s record-setting mushing exploits earned her anational reputation. She was twice named the Women’s Sports Foundation Professional Athlete of the Year. In some quarters of the Lower 48, for a time the Iditarod was known as “The race that woman wins.”
– Lew Freedman
Highlights
Four-time Iditarod Champion, including three in a row
Two-time National Women’s Sports Foundation’s Professional Athlete of the Year
U.S. Victor Award for Female Athlete of the Year two years in a row
Named as one of the “100 Greatest Female Athletes” by Sports Illustrated
photo courtesy of The Anchorage Daily News
Alaska Sports Hall of Fame 14815 Echo Canyon Road Anchorage, AK 99516 alaska_shof@yahoo.com
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