Susan Butcher won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1986, the second woman ever to do so, and then went on to set more records: she was the second 4-time winner in 1990, and the first to win 4 out of 5 sequential races. She ran the race 17 times, with 15 finishes in the top 10 and 12 in the top five. Butcher was inducted into the Iditarod Hall of Fame in 1997. She was the first and only person to take a sled dog team to the top of Denali.

Butcher was an incredible athlete and an inspiration to all women. To honor her memory, the first Saturday in March the State of Alaska celebrates Susan Butcher Day.