Mary Shields First Woman to Enter and Complete Iditarod Race
Mary Shields opened the door for other women to enter male dominated races when she entered the Alaska Iditarod Dog Sled Race. How she acquired her first dog team will surprise you.
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I love this story. Mary Shields is an amazing person. Great interview. I listened to it through the website and enjoyed the pictures as well.
Thank you so much for listening. Yes, Mary Shields is very amazing. I so much enjoyed spending time with her. She’d love to hear from you too. She can be found at MaryShields.com You will find her delightful!
Mary,
I am so glad you enjoyed the website photos that I posted. Maybe some day you can travel to Fairbanks and meet Mary Shields in person! She is delightful. Thank you for listening and supporting my podcast. Catherine
What a great interview Catherine. Mary Shields should be shared with young girls and women everywhere. And to end with the dogs howling – AWESOME.
Liz,
I agree with you and I hope the podcast will reach beyond Alaska! When I was in the classroom the students learned about Mary Shields and of course Mary and I worked on lesson plans together. That was such a fun opportunity for me. Thank you so much for your support!!
Thanks Catherine, I enjoyed your interview too! i appreciate and respect that you worked to get the facts correct., perhaps a little bit of exaggerated adjectives, but i Ihank you for
your kind memories of our time together.
Your facts are true, but as a mentor of mine, GinnyWood, once said, “‘i was just in the right place at the right time.”
I look forward to your future podcasts. I will be inspired by the other folks YOU have been at the right place and right time, to share with us.
In 2001 my wife and I were on a tour that spent several days in the Fairbanks area. One of the opportunities was a small group tour (perhaps 10 people) to Mary Shield’s home. Mary hosted the group herself. We visited her kennel and petted her dogs, and Mary then invited us into her house and served hot tea and cookies. Mary shared picture slides and told us about her Iditarod experience. Her talk ended with a very vivid and touching story of her finish in the race. Forgive me, I am an Octogenarian, and the event was 20+ years ago — some of the details have faded. Mary completed the race several days after the winner. She tells of arriving in Nome about 4 AM and the town was quite dark, and when she made her final turn toward the finish line, the street was also quite dark. But as she approached the finish line, lights on the buildings begin to light up, and women and girls began to come out and cheer her. She then saw this banner draped about the finish line —“You have come a long way Baby!”. Looking around Mary’s living room, there were many tears being shed, but it was especially moving to see the expressions of two teenage girls shedding tears.
We had the pleasure of visiting with Mary. She was quite engaging and I admire her. As a former Camp Fire Girl myself, I am so proud of her accomplishments.
Victoria, I am thrilled you were able to meet Mary Shields and spend time with her and making your own connections as a former Camp Fire girl too! Thank you so much for listening to the show.