The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Committee has announced the inaugural class for its newly formed Iditarod Hall of Fame.
The class includes five-time champion Rick Swenson; four-time champions Susan Butcher, Martin Buser, Jeff King and Lance Mackey; and Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the race.
Swenson was the first musher to win the race five times and remains the only person to win in three separate decades, with victories in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s.
Riddles remembers Swenson as being a force in the sport when she started competing in the ‘80s.
“Swenson was the one when I started racing that everybody was just in awe of,” she said. “He had a certain confidence and he was experimental. Everybody was watching what Rick was doing.”
Riddles was a trailblazer herself with a victory in the 1985 race. Her famed run out of Shaktoolik through a storm has become legend in mushing circles.
“It was a surprise,” she said of the induction. “I started thinking, ‘Well, wait a minute, shouldn’t somebody else be on here first before me?’ But I think they got some pretty good ones ... so I’m in good company.”
Riddles’ win was followed by an unprecedented run of success by Butcher, who won four out of the next five years.
Butcher died in 2006 at age 51 after a battle with leukemia.
The ‘90s was a decade marked by the great successes of King and Buser. Each won three races in the decade and were often battling at the front of the pack.
“I’m pretty excited and honored to be chosen in the inaugural class,” Buser said.
Buser last ran the race in 2022 — his 39th race — and is retired from competitive distance mushing.
King’s career in the race was legendary as well, with 20 top-10 finishes and a 13-year streak of top-10 finishes from 1992 to 2004.
“I’m in very competitive company, as you can imagine,” Buser said of the inaugural class. “Jeff King is definitely one of the toughest competitors that I’ve raced against for, for literally decades.”
King, too, ran his last Iditarod in 2022 and was overseas at a mushing symposium before returning to Alaska to receive the news of the induction.
“It’s very flattering,” he said. “Each of those names, I could come up with a great story about every one of them.”
One story that King has recounted before was the famed 2008 race when Mackey snuck out of Elim while King slept to take a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.
“Lance and I had some great races,” King said. “Very fun. Sometimes I won and sometimes he won, and he was always good for a laugh.”
Markey won four straight races from 2007-2010 and was a fan favorite. Mackey died in 2022 at age 52.
The Anchorage Daily News launched an Iditarod Hall of Fame in 1997 that included mushers, veterinarians, officials and volunteers. Butcher, Swenson and Riddles were part of the inaugural class.
Buser (1998), King (1999) and Mackey (2009) were also inducted into the ADN Iditarod Hall of Fame.
While the inaugural class accounted for 22 Iditarod titles, Buser said the group has more in common than just the victories.
“As diverse as the individuals are, the love of dogs is transcendent,” he said. “All those people are extremely savvy and good dog people. They might approach the race or equipment or training or lifestyles differently from each other, but the one common denominator is we all care about our dogs.”
Next week, the Iditarod will announce the Hall of Fame Founders Class. All of the inductees will be honored at the Legends of Iditarod Gala on Oct. 23.