08-08-2025
Mary Shields, First Woman to Finish the Iditarod, Dies at 80
Mary Shields was 29 when she entered the second-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1974, the punishing, 1,000-mile dash across Alaska, from Anchorage to Nome. And from the moment a surprised local press learned about Shields's participation—'Iditarod Race Attracts Female,' a headline read—she made clear she had zero interest in cutthroat competition, and certainly no ambition to win.
'I was just treating it as a camping trip,' recalled Shields, who died July 14 at age 80 in Fairbanks, Alaska—a chance to see a thousand miles of wilderness without the hard work or misery of breaking a trail through the snow herself. She told reporters she was looking forward to 'a good leisurely trip.'
