Today in History - 1985

At 9 a.m. Libby Riddles became the first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a 1,150-mile (approx.) dog-pulling sled race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska.

She checked into Safety—the last checkpoint before the finish—many hours ahead of her nearest competitor and finished the race through debilitating blizzards in 18 days, 20 minutes and 17 seconds. She raced with 13 dogs and won $50,000. Riddles put the Iditarod race on the map with her storybook win and her photo on magazine covers and front pages of many newspapers. The next three Iditarods were also won by a woman, Susan Butcher, who in 1986 had a record-breaking time of 11 days, 15 hours and 6 minutes. She is the only Iditarod competitor in history to have three consecutive wins.
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