Susan Butcher
Susan Howlet Butcher, born December 26, 1954 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, is a champion dog-sled racer.
Susan Butcher grew up in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, a lover of dogs and the outdoors. She studied at Colorado State University and untimately became a veterinarian technician. To pursue her love of dog-sled racing and breeding huskies, she moved to the Wrangell Mountains area of Alaska.
Living in Alaska, Susan Butcher began training to compete in the Iditarod sled-dog race, a gruelling 1,152 mile race in artic blizzard conditions across the Alaskan wilderness during which competitors face a true endurance test lasting more than 11 days. In 1986, Susan Butcher won the first of her three consecutive Iditarod wins. With another win in 1990 she became one of only two people to win the world-famous race four times.
She married fellow dog racer Dave Monson and they have successfully competed in almost every major sled-dog race in numerous countries around the world.
Her accomplishments have earned her many awards including the "National Women?s Sports Foundation Amateur Athlete of The Year Award" and the "Tanquerey Athlete of the Year. " As well, two years in a row she won the "U.S. Victor Award" for Female Athlete of the Year.
