SUSAN BUTCHER'S LIFE

Susan Butcher is the only person to ever win the 1,151 mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race three years in a row!
She has broken 9 speed records. One of the records she broke was an Iditarod record by 31 hours!
 

Susan was born on December 26th, 1954.
She was born in Cambridge Massachusetts.
But now she lives out in the great wilderness in Eureka Alaska!
Besides being a professional racer, Susan owns her own kennel (Trail Breaker Kennels).
She has 150 dogs of her own! They are all Alaskan Huskies.

Susan first became interested in sled dog racing at age 16.
In 1972 she moved to Colorado where she ran 50 Huskies owned by a local musher.
Following her dream, she moved to the mountains of Alaska in 1975.
In 1978 Susan ran her first Iditarod race! She finished in 19th place.
She was also the fourth woman to complete the race!
 

    In 1985 Susan was running on of the best races of her life. She had made it through three of the check points when her race was cut short.  A moose attacked her team. Saddly two of her dogs died and thirteen others were injured. Susan was forced to quit the race. But despite that hardship, Susan was back in the race the next year with nine of the dogs from the previous year.

Susan holds many records! Here is a list!
The first person to win the Iditarod 3 consecutive times.

She holds the record for the fastest completion of these races:
*Iditarod- Southern Route 11days 2 hrs. 6min. in 1987
*Iditarod- Northern Route 11days 1hr. 23 min. in 1990
*Beargrease- 500 Mile - 87hrs. 15min. in 1990
*Kusko- 300 Mile -44hrs. 48mins in 1988
*Kotzebue-220 Mile -26hrs. 32mins. 1989
*Kobuk- 440 Mile -65hrs. 14mins. in 1989

In 1990, Susan raced more miles than any other musher in history. She raced 2,680 miles that year!
1990 was a pretty exciting year for Susan. Her record inclued 4 first place wins and 2 second
                                                       Way To Go Susan!!!