Monson runs first leg of relay in memory of his wife Susan Butcher

By Danny Martin
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Published September 17, 2006


Two weeks ago on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, David Monson said good-bye to his wife, Susan Butcher, a four-time champion of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

He returned Saturday to UAF to pay a tribute to her by running the first leg of an open mixed relay in the Equinox Marathon.

Family friends Darren Rorabaugh and Susan Faulkner asked Monson last week to join their relay, the Nameless Wonders. The trio placed eighth overall among 61 teams, finishing in 3 hours, 44 minutes and 42.1 seconds on the 26.2-mile course which runs out and back from UAF’s Patty Center to Ester Dome.

“We didn’t go into it with the idea of doing anything competitively,” Monson said Saturday night. “All we wanted to do was show support for Susan and the event itself. They (Rorabaugh and Faulkner, who are also spouses) have been very good friends to me, Susan and our family.”

Butcher, 51, died of leukemia on Aug. 5 at a Seattle hospital. A memorial service was conducted Sept. 2 at UAF’s Davis Concert Hall, drawing about 700 people, including U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska; filmmaker George Lucas; former Alaska governor and current Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tony Knowles and of course, fellow mushers and fans.

Butcher won on the 1,100-mile Iditarod course from Anchorage to Nome from 1986-88 and in 1990, and by the time she retired in 1994, she had placed among the top five finishers 12 times.

A year ago, Butcher, Monson and their daughter, Tekla, comprised a relay called the Marvelous Mantees. Butcher ran the first leg of nine miles while Monson, an Iditarod veteran himself, and Tekla did the respective second and third legs of about eight miles each.

Monson ran the first leg Saturday for the Nameless Wonders, posting a split of 1:15:41.4. It was also a tribute to his late wife, with whom he had another daughter, Chisana.

“When I was running along the trails that were beautiful with the fallen leaves, I thought about her running along the same trails last year,” he said. “It was a such a beautiful, happy day and she had a good time.”

Monson was amazed when he learned of the Nameless Wonders’ overall finish.

“Darren and Sue ran pretty hard,” he said. “They’re the real runners. I just wanted to do my best.”