A True Legend

I do not know the word 'quit'. Ether I never did, or I abolished it.
-Susan Butcher

Susan Bucher was diagnosed with Leukemia this month and is in Seattle undergoing treatment. If there is anyone who looms larger in Alaska sports history, they don't come to mind (except for perhaps her lead dog "Granite".

Butcher won the Iditarod 4 times, an achievement matched by only one other musher. She finished every race except one, when a moose charged and killed several of her dogs, the lead dog among them. My aunt made booties for her dog teams. I remember Rick Swensen reducing himself to "Clown" status by suggesting that women had a built-in advantage on the Iditarod because of their extra body fat.

Susan Bucher is a true champion who loves her sport and her dogs more than Rick Swensen loves his "Friday Juice". If she has anything to say about, she'll win her health battle too. I'll be sending my good thoughts into the ether just the same, as will all of Alaska.