Fairbanks Tall Timbers Series: Mary Shields

The Fairbanks Tall Timber Series honors those who have served the Fairbanks community well. Join veteran newsman Robert Hannon as he interviews Mary Shields. As a college student at the University of Wisconsin, Mary came to Alaska to work with the Campfire Girls organization and fell in love with the state. After college, she returned to Alaska and lived in a wilderness cabin. Caring for sled dogs was part of her remote lifestyle, and she made history when she signed up to race in the Iditarod International Sled Dog Race in 1974. She became the first woman to finish the grueling race, proving gender did not determine the outcome. Ten years later, she ran the inaugural Yukon Quest race between Fairbanks and Whitehorse (in total she ran the Yukon Quest three times, and finished all successfully.) In 1991, with the breakup of the USSR, she participated in the "Hope Race" in the Far East. Mary's greatest joy, as an author and speaker and role model for women, has been sharing her love of Alaska and her dogs, her adventures, and her Goldstream Valley home with countless visitors.