Joe Reddington
By: Eric
In the race of 1988, Joe Redington finished fifth, but at the time he was 71 years old. He is the creator of the Iditarod ® and he is called the Father of the Iditarod. Mr. Redington has been a musher since after World War II. He finally got people to listen to him, and the first Iditarod Race was run in 1973 Mr. Redington's dogs raced but he did not. He ran every race from 1974 to 1992, and he trained a musher named Susan Butcher who has won the Iditarod four times. In 1997, Joe Redington won the honor of a "Hall of Famer" for his 5th place victory at the age of 71. He is still alive today.
Sources
Anchorage Daily News - "Iditarod Hall of Fame"
Iditarod Classics (Lew Freedman)