Mary Shields, an Iditarod pioneer who paved the way for women in The Last Great Race passed away in mid-July at the age of 80. Mary was one of two women to sign up for the second Iditarod in 1974. Shields was the first woman to finish Iditarod reaching Nome in 28 days, 18 hours and 15 minutes for 23rd place. Harness maker, Lolly Medley, finished 29 minutes later in 24th place.
Forty-four mushers signed up for the second Iditarod including Shields and Medley. To further emphasize their accomplishment of finishing, only 26 of the 44 mushers completed the race. With Mother Nature in charge, the race was fraught with blizzards and severe cold. In finishing a race where nearly half the field scratched, Shields and Medley showed that gender was less important than the partnership between musher and canines as well as the toughness to rise above the challenges of the trail. Iditarod continues today as a competition where men and women compete against each other on the same trail to Nome.
While attending college in Wisconsin, Mary first visited Alaska in 1965 to work for the Campfire Girls organization. Like so many others, she fell in love with Alaska and returned after completing her degree. Living remotely, Shields acquired dogs who became the cornerstone of her existence. She was self-reliant, loved adventure and never considered mushing to be a man’s activity. It was her way of life.
When she heard about the 1,000 mile race that would go clear across Alaska from Anchorage to Nome, she signed up. For a person who loved spending time with her dogs while traveling across the land that she loved and thrived in, signing up for the race was a given. But racing was the furthest thing from Mary’s mind. Fellow competitor Rod Perry told Alaska News Source, “She ran her eight dog team slow and steady, never making mistakes. She just liked to travel by dog team.” Perry also shared that when Mary reached Nome, she didn’t fly back to Fairbanks, she turned around and mushed 435 miles back to Galena before flying the final miles to Fairbanks due to river ice breaking up.
The ’74 Iditarod was not Mary’s only long distance effort. She joined the 1,000 mile Yukon Quest field for the 1984 inaugural run and again in ’86 and ’88. In 1991 Mary embarked upon another international mushing adventure traveling 1,200 miles from Nome, Alaska to Anadyr, Russia in the Hope Race. The Hope was a small event in which Chukchi mushers from Siberia would learn the ins and outs of long distance mushing. Shields was the only woman in the small field of 15 that included mushers from Alaska, Japan, Canada and the Russia.
Mary shared her mushing life by inviting tourists to her home and kennel outside of Fairbanks. Through her tour business, Tails of the Trail, folks spent an afternoon with Shields, met her dogs and enjoyed her tails of the trail. Mary was a kind, considerate, humble person who was an enthusiastic ambassador for the sport of mushing. She’s authored multiple books including Sled Dog Trails. I was privileged to enjoy her hospitality on a very hot June afternoon in 2004. After spending time in her gardens and with her dogs who lived in houses constructed of logs, we enjoyed lemonade and fresh baked brownies with more conversation inside her sod roofed log home and watched her award winning video, Seasons of the Sled Dog, featured on PBS.
Mary was proud of being the first woman to finish the Iditarod and enjoyed sharing stories like the following of her experiences in the “74 race. Somewhere on the first day of the race, a man standing trail-side yelled out to Mary, “You better turnaround now. You’ll never make it.” He really had no idea what Mary Shields was made of! Women turned out in droves to cheer and welcome Mary to the villages along the trail. The men were less enthusiastic as they were betting Mary would scratch before reaching their checkpoint while the women were betting in Mary’s favor. In Nome, a banner reading, “You’ve come a long way baby” was hanging to welcome both Shields and Lolly Medley.
When the Iditarod restart moved to Fairbanks in 2015, who better than Mary Shields to deliver a message to the mushers at the start? Just prior to the first musher leaving the Re-start, Mary Shields took the public address microphone and spoke to all the race fans, mushers and athletes. Shields bid everyone good morning then reminded the dogs to stay calm and drink their water. Shields told the fans how important they are to the mushers, “It’s pretty easy to slip down the starting chute, but somewhere in the next 979 miles each of these mushers will find a serious, dangerous challenge out there; maybe knee deep overflow or a stubborn moose holding down the trial or winds in the face as they try to slip over a pass. In those moments the mushers will remember your cheering faces, your encouragement and in that way you will help them move on down the trail.” To mushers Shields said, “This is a message from a musher who just like you, was waiting to take off on the second Iditarod, forty-one years ago. Every musher around the world wishes they could be in your shoes. Every time you harness your dogs, put your parka on, remember every minute of it. The years pass and you’ll wonder where all the time went. Take good care of yourself and remember every minute.”
In 2017, Mary was presented with the Women who Dared Gratitude Award. As the first woman to finish the Iditarod, Shields has likely inspired many women to take to the sport of mushing and the Iditarod trail. The number is countless and impossible to quantify but might include legendary Iditarod Champions Libby Riddles, Susan Butcher and a host of other highly respected female mushers like Jessie Royer, DeeDee Jonrowe, Aliy Zirkle, Michelle Phillips and Paige Drobny to mention only a few.
Teenage mushing phenom, Emily Robinson, told Alaska News Source that she saw Shields as a mentor adding, “I’m super grateful to have known her. It was such an honor to exchange ideas and experiences.” Over the past four years, Emily has taken the Jr. Iditarod by storm winning four consecutive championships in 2022, ’23, ’24 and ’25. Robinson is the only female to win consecutive races and the only person to win four Jr. Iditarod championships.
When Robinson and other new generation mushers decide it’s time to run Iditarod, Shields will be riding along in spirit, inspiring them all the way to Nome as she has done for so many in the past and will do for many in the future.
