View source for Libby Riddles

{{Short description|American dog musher (born 1956)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
'''Libby Riddles''' (born April 1, 1956) is an American [[dog musher]], and the first woman to win the [[Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Iditarod: Story of the Last Great Race|first=Ian|last=Young|others=contributor Timothy V. Rasinski|publisher=[[Red Brick Learning]]|year=2002|edition=illustrated|isbn=0-7368-9523-X|page=37|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_og38sELPTcC&q=%22Libby+Riddles%22&pg=PA37|accessdate=May 7, 2009}}</ref>

==Early life==

Riddles was born in [[Madison, Wisconsin]], to Willard and Mary Riddles, and moved to [[Alaska]] (from Minnesota; she had been living in St. Joseph while attending Apollo High School in St. Cloud) just before her 17th birthday. She saw a sprint race and fell in love with mushing. Her first race was the Clines Mini Mart Sprint race in 1978, in which she won first place. 

==Iditarod==
After finishing 18th and 20th in the 1980 and 1981 Iditarod races, she decided to breed her own [[sled dog]]s in order to advance. She moved to [[Shaktoolik, Alaska]], and worked as a fish seller for a short period while training her dogs, then moved to [[Teller, Alaska]], where she met Joe Garnie; they became partners and started breeding and training dogs together.

On March 20, 1985, Riddles won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, becoming the first woman to do so. She wrote three books about her adventures<ref>{{cite book|title=Race across Alaska: first woman to win the Iditarod tells her story|first=Libby|last=Riddles|author2=Tim Jones|publisher=[[Stackpole Books]]|year=1988|edition=illustrated|isbn=0-8117-2253-8|url=https://archive.org/details/raceacrossalaska00ridd_0|url-access=registration|quote=Libby Riddles.|accessdate=May 7, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Storm Run: The Story of the First Woman to Win the Iditarod Sled Dog Race|first=Libby|last=Riddles|author2=Shannon Cartwright|others=Illustrated by Shannon Cartwright|publisher=[[Sasquatch Books]]|year=2002|edition=revised, illustrated|isbn=1-57061-293-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Udi1pWzDtJsC|accessdate=May 7, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Danger: The Dog Yard Cat|first=Libby|last=Riddles|author2=Shelley Gill|author3=Shannon Cartwright|others=Illustrated by Shannon Cartwright|publisher=Paws IV Pub|year=2002|edition=illustrated, reissue 4|isbn=0-934007-20-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j1Ac88F4YW4C|accessdate=May 7, 2009}}</ref> and also became a professional speaker.<ref>{{cite web|title=Entertaining the tourists|url=http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/062900/Ent_tourists.html|first=Joan|last=Pardes|work=[[The Juneau Empire]]|date=June 29, 2000|accessdate=May 7, 2009|archive-date=February 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204182255/http://juneauempire.com/stories/062900/Ent_tourists.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2007, her Iditarod Trail Race victory was inducted as a "Hall of Fame Moment" into the [[Alaska Sports Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEnoEmx7GdI&feature=player_embedded  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/GEnoEmx7GdI |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |url-status=live| title=Libby Riddles' Iditarod Victory: 2007 Induction into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame | publisher=[[YouTube]] | date=February 3, 2009 | location=[[Conoco-Phillips Building]] atrium, [[downtown Anchorage]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==

{{Iditarod winners}}
{{Alaska Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riddles, Libby}}
[[Category:Dog mushers from Alaska]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:Iditarod champions]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Madison, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Women dog mushers]]


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