Posted on 08/05/2006 9:59:22 PM PDT by Chena
Four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher died Saturday in a Seattle hospital of complications from a recent bone marrow transplant, a hospital spokeswoman said. She was 51.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
Dang. I'm sorry to hear of her passing.
What a Lady!
Are you on the river? It's a lovely place. If we hadn't taken the guided tour I don't think we could have seen a fraction of what we did.
I have to sign off now, but I do thank all of you who have stopped by to post your respects and prayers for Susan Butcher and her family. I'll check back in when I can to read the rest of the posts. I'm sure the Iditarod committee will be honoring the life and times of Susan Butcher when Iditarod time rolls around again.
No, we live in the eastern Interior. My father nicknamed me after the Chena river years ago when he was stationed at what was then, the Ladd AFB, in Fairbanks.
Read up on Susan, and Libby Riddles too. Amazing stories lived by amazing women. And the Iditarod....well, it's just one of the most grueling and challenging man/women/dog vs nature ever witnessed.
Wow, how cool!
She will be missed.
RACING ACROSS ALASKA'S WILDERNESS
"I have been known to walk in front of my team for 55 miles, with snow shoes, to lead them through snow storms, in non-racing situations, where I could have just as easily radioed for a plane to come and get me."
Susan Howlet Butcher was an animal lover, a business woman, a wife and a mother. She was also called "the best competitive dog sled racer in the universe." Before her, there were many women who competed in sports, but not many who entered the race called the Iditarod, one that took her 1,152 miles across the Alaskan wilderness, enduring 100 m.p.h. winds, artic blizzards, snow blindness, wild animals, thin ice, sleep deprivation, avalanches, and whatever else mother nature felt like throwing at a person up in the land of the midnight sun.
Butcher won this race wins four times in a row, so often that "Iditarod," as well as the sport of mushing, became synonymous with her name.
It would be hard to say whether Alaska found Butcher or Butcher found Alaska. Drawn to the great northern wilderness from her love of animals and disdain for cities when she was 20 years old, she became an outspoken advocate for wildlife and the environment, and educated the public about caring for dogs and cats.
Combining an arduous training schedule for herself and her dogs with an ability to focus on a goal with extraordinary discipline and singleminded force, Susan Butcher was a true champion -- one of those few who are able to dominate a sport to the extent that, in the minds of millions, they become unofficial spokespersons for anything to do with it.
Whoa....She grew up in Boston....both of these stories need a fact checker, but aren't too bad. You can Google stories about her.
A very inspiring lad, and a noble spirit.
Are we really having an epidemic of breast cancer? So many good ones seem to be taken in this way.
Iditarod.... few men can complete this journey let alone win it.. If you've never been there, you have no idea.. the challenge..
Prayers up for her and her family and friends.
Rest in peace.
Iditarod, Susan's race, makes the Boston Marathon look like a 100 yard dash at a church picnic. She was so good, her name will rank with legends like Ruth, DiMaggio and Peyton.
I'm not sure folks understand that the race is run alone, without anything resembling sleep, let along much rest, that they don't stop each night at a hotel, have hot meals...that caring for their dogs comes before anything they do for themselves....and in weather conditions often indescribable.
She is indeed a legend.
PETA needs to be told to take a hike-- they have a notorious record for killing animals they are supposed to be adopting out.
I'm no expert, but I doubt that any musher, or the top contenders anyway, has not lost at least one dog. The dogs have the same types of issues as the star athlete who goes down, to find out later of an unknown condition. There are vets at every checkpoint, and I believe they check each dog. Odd things happen, no matter how much care is taken.
Susan had to drop out one year when a moose charged her team, killing a couple dogs and injuring more.
Her husband's been keeping a blog, and it's been heartbreaking to read about the complications (GVH) and then the return of the leukemia. She's been so very ill, but she was a fighter to the end.
If you want to read her husband's blog, here's the link
(enter "butcher" and "butcher 1" for access)
http://www.thestatus.com/index.cfm?fa=patient_login&sid=0
Always pulled for her, competing against a whole passel of men she was able to come out ahead.
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