
Susan Butcher
champion musher
Susan Butcher's family always knew she'd work with animals ~ and not just because of her childhood essay, "I hate the city. I love the country." But they expected her to be a vet, not a champion dog sledder!
Mild dyslexia made school challenging for Susan, who moved as a teenager to Colorado to train + work as a vet tech. It wasn't long before she headed for Alaska. From the moment she read about the Iditarod, she knew she'd one day cross its finish line a winner ~ and she did ... 4 times in 5 years. Treating her dogs as teammates, not tools, gave her the edge to break multiple records and change the sport of mushing forever.
Today, her legacy lives on at Trail Breaker Kennels + in her adopted home state of Alaska, which celebrates Susan Butcher Day every March, and in the ever-growing numbers of female competitive mushers.
single-minded vision | once Susan read about the first race ~ commemorating the 1,049-mile dashto deliver diphtheria serum to Nome from Anchorage ~ she was hooked. Winning the Iditarod wasn't just a dream, it was a must-do that dictated her every action. From moving to Alaska in 1975 to live in the bush with 4 dogs and 40 miles from the nearest neighbor to operating her own kennel so she could train year-round.
compassion | caring for her dogs year-round gave Susan the competitive edge she needed to be a champion ~ and her success fundamentally changed the way sled dogs are handled today.
winning | despite intense gender discrimination in the male-dominated sport...where men who were her friends off the trail did everything they could to shut her out on the trail.
1979 | first to summit Denali {Mount McKinley} with a dog team, along with mentor Joe Redington, Sr., co-founder of the Iditarod.
1980 | founded Trail Breaker Kennel to pioneer year-round care + training for her dogs. The kennel is still a popular stop for Alaskan river cruises.
1986 ~ 1987 ~ 1988 | first ever musher to win the Iditarod 3 years in a row. Her 1986 time was a record-breaking 11.5 days {11 days, 15 hours, 6 mins, to be exact}. She clocked a 4th win in 1990.
from | to
vet tech + aspiring boat builder | 4-time Iditarod winner
born on
december 26, 1954
born in
Cambridge, Mass.
birth name
Susan Butcher
citizen of
The United States of America
daughter of
Charlie + Agnes
sister of
4 sisters + 2 brothers
grew up in | lives in
Cambridge, Mass. | Eureka, Alaska
educated at
Warehouse Cooperative School
Colorado State University {veterinary technician}
loved studying
science + math
married to
David Monson
mother of
2 daughters, Tekla + Chisana
advocate for | influenced by | worked alongside
humane treatment of animals | Jane Goodall | Joe Redington, Sr. + her husband and daughters
died on
august 5, 2006
~ leukemia ~
Trans World Sport | all rights reserved
Sports Illustrated {via Academy of Achievement} | all rights reserved
collapse bio bits"Don't follow my dream. Follow your own dream."
On the Iditarod Trail, recalling a mom named Susan Butcher | c.1990s
"I don't want to talk about this year's race. It's over. I've won it. Let's talk about next year's race. I'm coming back to win it again."
after winning 2nd Iditarod {recalled in Academy of Achievement interview} | march 1987
"I train my dogs to have a 'trust-and-be-trusted' relationship...It's mutual trust. Theirs in my guidance, and mine in their ability and instincts in the wilderness."
Academy of Achievement | june 1991
"I do not know the word ‘quit.’ Either I never did, or I have somehow abolished it."
Academy of Achievement | june 1991
"Most important is that you are out there with your 12, 16, 20 best friends—the dogs."
Academy of Achievement | june 1991
"Superior performance by a dogsled team is a reflection of superior day-to-day care on the trail."
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race | 2006
for further reading about Susan Butcher:
curated with care by Meghan Miller Brawley {august 2015}
sprint racing
A hobby Susan picked up as a teenager in Massachusetts grew into a passion in Colorado...and a life's work in Alaska. In 1973, when Susan was 18, she read an article about the first Iditarod race in a mushing magazine, and knew then it was her future.
Trail Breaker Kennel
© all rights reserved
crossing the finish line
Susan crosses the finish line of her historic 3rd Iditarod victory ~ the first person {man or woman} to win three years in a row. She first entered the race in 1978, where she finished 19th. In 1985, the year Libby Riddles was the first woman musher to win, Susan scratched ~ dropped out ~ after a moose attacked, killing 2 of her dogs and injuring 13. Susan would finish the race a total of 16 times, in the top 10 every time but that first.
Trail Breaker Kennel
© all rights reserved