Four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher, who in 1986 won the race and brought increased national attention to its grueling competition, died Saturday in a Seattle hospital. She was 51, and had recently undergone a stemcell transplant as therapy for leukemia.

She dominated the 1,100-mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome in the late 1980s. Her other victories came in 1987, 1988, and 1990. Although she was not the first woman to win the Iditarod, she helped bring the event before an international audience.

In 1979, Butcher helped drive the first sled-dog team to the 20,320-foot summit of Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America.

Butcher was known as a focused and confident competitor, who loved her dogs, and insisted they remain fit and disciplined.

Butcher ran her last Iditarod in 1994 when she and husband Davis Monson decided to have children. They have two daughters, Tekla and Chisana.

Butcher planned to compete in a 300-mile race last winter, but was unable to compete after she was diagnosed with leukemia in early December.

During chemotherapy treatments, Butcher daydreamed about land she owned in the White Mountains of New Hampshire where she planned to build a bigger cabin on the land that comes with 300 miles of groomed trails perfect for mushing dogs right out the back door.