Butcher, Susan

Butcher, Susan

▪ American sled-dog racer and trainer
in full  Susan Howlet Butcher 
born Dec. 26, 1954, Boston, Mass., U.S.
died Aug. 5, 2006, Seattle, Wash.
 American sled-dog (sled dog) racer and trainer who dominated her sport for more than a decade. She won the challenging Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska four times.

      Butcher began to train dogs at age 16. By 1972 she had moved to Colorado, where she attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins and raced a group of 50 Alaskan huskies owned by a local musher. Butcher moved to Alaska in 1975 to start her own kennel. A serious athlete from the outset, she broke onto the international mushing scene in 1979 after driving a team of huskies to the top of Mount McKinley.

      Butcher first entered the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1978. The roughly 1,100-mile (1,770-km) Iditarod is the longest and most physically challenging of all sled-dog races (dogsled racing). Butcher twice finished in second place (1982, 1984). She began the 1985 race with a solid lead but was eliminated from the competition when a moose charged across her path, killing 2 of her dogs and wounding 13. That year Butcher lost to Libby Riddles her chance to become the first woman to win the Iditarod. The following year, however, Butcher came in first with a record-breaking time of 11 days, 15 hours, and 6 minutes. She was victorious in both 1987 and 1988 to become the only musher in the history of the sport to win the Iditarod in three consecutive years. She won for a fourth time in 1990.

      Butcher retired from competitive sledding in 1994 and opened a kennel in Eureka, Alaska, where she housed more than 150 huskies and trained dogs year-round. She was considered by many to be one of the strongest and most disciplined female athletes of the 20th century for her determination to rise to the top of a physically grueling sport that is dominated by men. In 2006 Butcher died of leukemia.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Butcher, Susan Howlet — ▪ 2007       American sled dog racer and trainer (b. Dec. 26, 1954, Boston, Mass d. Aug. 5, 2006, Seattle, Wash.), dominated her sport for more than a decade and won the challenging 1,770 km (1,100 mi) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska four… …   Universalium

  • Susan Butcher — Susan Howlet Butcher (December 26, 1954 – August 5, 2006) was an American dog musher, noteworthy as the second woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1986, the second four time winner in 1990, and the first to win four out of five… …   Wikipedia

  • Susan Butcher — Susan Howlet Butcher (* 26. Dezember 1954 in Boston, Massachusetts; † 5. August 2006 in Seattle, Washington) war eine US amerikanische Hunde Rennschlitten Fahrerin (Musher). Berühmt wurde sie durch vier Siege in fünf Jahren beim Iditarod… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • William Butcher — William James Burchell Butcher (24 July 1858–24 May 1944), Australian politician, was a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for twelve years.Born in Richmond, Tasmania on 24 July 1858, William Butcher was the son of squatter and …   Wikipedia

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  • Zwangsstörung — Vergleichende Klassifikation nach DSM IV   ICD 10 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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