Libby Riddles

Dean Paige, the ship's Naturalist, told us to not miss Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the Iditerod sled dog race who was giving a talk 7pm in the Vista Lounge while we were docked in Juneau Friday evening.
























With her beautiful face and long blonde hair, she did not give the impression of a champion sled dog musher who possessed the physical strength, conditioning, command of wolf-like huskies, and endurance necessary to participate in the 1,049 mile wilderness race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, much less win it. I am very fascinated by animal trainers for how in tune they are with these wild beasts, yet know how to stay one step, at least, ahead of them so that they maintain loving dominance, not just sympathy, in order to achieve peak performance. I think this sense is very akin to how an Orthodox Spiritual Father is with his spiritual children.
 
Her talk was very interesting, especially when she described, what seems like the clincher moment, when she decided to push past a checkpoint where everyone else decided to sleep during a blizzard. When she could finally go no further, she staked her sled, fed the dogs a snack, let them rest in their dog igloos, and slept for a few hours on the wind shielded side of the sled. When she woke up, she wanted to go back to sleep, but knew that she and the dogs would not only get passed up in the race, but could probably die in the sub zero temperatures. So she pushed on and won the race. She is a model of the asceticism, attentive focus, and skill that are necessary to achieve greatness.