Iditarod Trail Breakers, Pt. 1: Susan Butcher

KTUU News, Anchorage, AK

2/26/07

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is now just five days away. On Saturday, thousands will be gathered downtown as mushers head down 4th Avenue.  

This year, gone but not forgotten is four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher, who has been named the 2007 honorary musher.

She won the race four times from 1986 through 1990 and was the first musher to win four out of five sequential years. She also came in second four times and finished in the top ten 16 of her 17 races.

For nearly a decade, no one dominated the 1,100-mile Iditarod like Susan Butcher.

Even before her Iditarod wins, though, Butcher was a trailblazer. In 1979, she drove a dog team to the summit of Mount McKinley along with the "Father of the Iditarod," Joe Redington. Strength and her courage were her trademarks.

Then, in 2005, came Butcher's greatest challenge. The four-time Iditarod champion was diagnosed with cancer.

Though she retired from racing in 1994 to have a family, Susan Butcher has never been far from the trail.

Last March, she surprised mushers in Ruby. She also talked about her health and her love of the sport.

"This second round of chemo has certainly taken a little bit out of me," she said. "If I didn't have dogs and I didn't get to mush everyday, and if I didn't get to train all the time I would really be unhappy when I came out. But I don't have to race the Iditarod to find enjoyment with my dogs."  

It was Butcher's last time on the trail. Butcher lost her battle with leukemia on Aug. 5 at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle.  

This year, friend and fellow musher Martin Buser will feel her loss.

"Those of us who had the chance to race against her -- in my case, over 10,000 miles -- that has shaped me to a great degree. Plus her inner drive -- the desire to succeed and do it better than anyone else -- that drive, incredible tenacity is almost unequaled in our sport," said four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser.

It was that drive that captured the attention of the country, and helped put the Iditarod on the map.

After her retirement in 1994, she and her husband Dave Monson had two daughters, Tekla and Chisana.

This week, Dave and the girls will be a part of the ceremonial start, where it all began for Susan Butcher nearly 30 years ago.