4 minutes almost 4 and 1/2 minutes now after 12 noon 4 minutes and 23 seconds Mark 24 25 News Network here with us what's going on in the world of sports today? The Gopher basketball team plays tonight. I stated you say that something about the winter in gopher land. Is that what you called this place? Did you say go for a land at that? Sure. They wouldn't it be when the guys at the weather service start getting into creative writing. I think it behooves those of us who depend on them to know about what's going on in the weather to Owego ran their creative writing and I always thought we lived in C C Olean. What is a scoffer land you going to get in trouble? You keep this up here at the University of Detroit the Titans who are what winless this year other two and four,Ways are over for the time being a boy Dorothy sure looked like he was in a funk today didn't think we should mention driving Hanford who handles the telephone calls over the the call-in is a quite strong enough a word. She lives it to truly live this bike crashing through the board someday to go out in the field and score that goal. Now you got Jack Morris wish talked about that before we get into our sport folio program for today for the chance to get it instead of twenty-five other teams in the major leagues, but they could also use a box. I mean don't take it for granted even though the Jackal be with the Tigers next year. There's a chance.Inconceivable most likely a picture of the tiger so make an obscene amount of money and I'll still be a free agent again next year. So I'm about to the text might be some sort of legal action against Major League Baseball is going to the store is going to get more interesting and not Last Stand and the twins may or may not be involved in the future either from baseball Point View. It's it's a fun story. Now you add moss on portfolio here a couple of weeks back talking among other things about his charge in the charge on the part of some other agents and players that the owners are in collusion if you had a chance to talk with him now in the following, what's what's going on this week with said Jack Morris about what he thinks he's going to get out of this whole deal in terms of proving his case. I haven't talked to Dixon to have two Twin Cities as far as what what he thinks he's establishing with what's going on this weekend and clearly a lot of it happened yesterday when when when at least four teams turn down pictures fromSo they came back to the Twins and made a second try with them and didn't get anywhere there either. I frankly think that the price dick is set for Jack Morris while not in defensively high is high enough that it's hard to really get anybody. I think impartial convinced that it's it's proof positive that the owners are conspiring to restrain trade and prevent two-player movement of a free agents. That's not to say that that may not be happening. But in this case this particular case is probably not strong enough to prove it with all this talk about Moore's. Are there any other free agents this year? That's right about the second best leadoff baseball. Maybe he's a he's available in the end. He did not file for arbitration now so Raines is going to have to work out a contract through negotiation either with the Expos over about the next three weeks or with the some other team any other team that wants to go after him and he wants a big file a money in and frankly. He's he's more worth it than Jack Morrison.Is because the the skills he provides or are much more unique and and really to add are there. He's skilled to a higher degree than Jack is and is that everyday player who can help you every day that he wants to go to Big City somewhere. Then. He really wants to eat like to we like to make something no big money on the side of a candy bar named after my last breath on the spotlights in and now it's a big decision for Tim Raines or some other guys that have some ability to do a lot of things might want to have a little over the last couple years the rich gedman who played for the Red Sox that are catcher. These are guys that conceivably could help a fair number of teams. And again, I'll probably come down to what their you know, if they have realistic-looking price tag, maybe there's a chance they don't have some movement anybody else out there that I don't think so unless it's somebody who will have so little impact on the team, free agents. Yeah.Give a hoot when they sign them but they're still there still a likelihood. I think that'll make some sort of crazy to before spring training or soon after it starts deals about the one of the starting pitchers for a reliever or something like that. Probably not at this point there be more likely to try to trade a regular everyday filter for a couple of pictures or something like that guy to coming off the area had brunansky apparently the available for a trade. I don't know who else is going to be trying to call we're going to reach the critical point where we're going to expose you have told us everything, you know about baseball and rather than risk embarrassing You by having you go beyond that point I passed that one a long time ago. I've been faking it here for 1 minute.We don't we don't need to worry. It's all yours. Take it away. I'm just hoping that Libby riddle is on the phone. You got her name right work. I'm sure she would be a lesson for us portfolio on ksjn accept no imitations. It's the one and only here on ksgn to don't run guys take it easy wasn't I'm not going to make you panic the control room is in quite a tizzy massive St. Paul Studio because our guest this afternoon is in Alaska the 50th state, but number one in our hearts 49th, I guess actually but a new rate Libby riddles do well-known sled dog racer musher, I guess is the proper term is going to talk to us from her home in far-off teller Alaska and it's very hard to get a an audible phone line into teller Alaska RV a telephone line of any kind in the teller Alaska and apparently after about a half an hour of trying we have succeeded Libby. Can you hear me?Wonderful if you can hear me. If you haven't seen that I'm not going to panic too much. Calling Libby riddles, riddles. Just push another couple buttons worried about this. Libya as you may know we may be you you may recognize the name and not really quite know why two years ago in 1985. That would have been but in January like it on the early part 85, let me became the first woman ever to win the most prestigious event in sled dog racing the Alaska Iditarod covers more than a thousand miles from Anchorage to Nome across some of the villain parts of the universe and last year in 1985. There was a very nice article about that experience that she wrote in Sports Illustrated that a lot of you may have read Libby was on this program back in our Sunday night Carnation several months ago and she had so many interesting things to talk about that. We didn't get a chance to talk about them all. So we're going to have around today and try to flush out some more than interesting stuff about sled dog racing say let me can you hear me now? We're trying and don't sweat it guys. Don't sweat it if nothing else will just go to open phone America. I'm not going to get to panic here. But you know, all I ask is a long way away bear in mind. If you will get to tell her where Lily lives maybe a stone's throw from the Arctic Circle. If you have a good arm, it's an awful lot closer to the Soviet Union than it is to any part of civilized and it's a long way away and then we made it. We may have a mail-in program at Libby. Have you will just have you address your questions to let me send him right up to her and tell her and then Livio email us back. The answers will put them on there. So that's a joke. But anyway, we're going to try for a couple more minutes. Do I get Libby hooked up. I will bore you in terminal in the meantime, but you with your inestimable patients will stand by and cuz you're anxious have a chance to talk to Libby riddles. So it's all might matter fact I think is going on in sports today and tonight mention to the Gopher basketball team is at the University of Detroit tonight to go for 3 and 3 on the season looking for their first win on the road. Gopher to be home on Monday night by the way to play Wichita State at Williams Arena. That'll be their final home game before Christmas at the Met Center North Stars looking to go over the 500 Mark for the first time in a while. They're playing the Quebec nordiques nordiques in recent years has been one of the more explosive high scoring teams in the National Hockey League, but they're kind of a slump right now. They've lost seven of their last date. Carrie Taco is expected to play in goal for the Stars tonight. He's won his last three starts at game at the med center the start of a three-game homestand now. Are the crackle sounds good. Anyway, guys. I just listened to the sound of that. I'll ask a bounce-back say Libby. You're not able to hear me or anything. Are you? Libby hey far out 12:14 here on ksjn 1332 progress portfolio. Now guys are the people in the control room held off a lot of Professional Pride in their work, but I don't I don't think you take this personally. Let me can you hear me? Holy crow. All right. We're making boys contact. This is terrific. Does it help if I holler? I can hear you pretty good. I'll just have to listen up here. Thank you very much for joining us to talk about what you do and erasing the sled dogs in Alaska. If I remember right now, you're going to be back in the Iditarod yourself this year. Is that right? You bet that what when is the race this year? What are the dates? And my past experience you're looking at what maybe 10 or 11 days before you get to know? Only all depends on the weather conditions. I think 11 days is the fastest. It's been done in and 14 is about the average. All over the course of the time we have you with us today Libby. I'll have you try in your in your literate way to describe what two weeks on the Alaskan Tundra is like and we'll also have a chance to get to some other questions hear from you the listeners on sportfolio, by the way. Just want to let you people listening at home or in the car or wherever know that the reason our conversation without a little funny from time to time is that these communications to Alaska go buy a satellite. There's a little bit of a time delay involved in getting the signal from us to Libby and back down to us. So if it sounds to you listening on the radio, like it's taking Libby and inordinately long time to answer our questions is because it's just taking your answer a long time to get back as a little bit of delay. We just have to get used to that phone number and number is 227-6000. Talk to get to talk to the beauty of Sue winking will answer the phone and get you set up to go on the air with us and we will answer your questions about sled dog racing about life in Alaska about the how and why let me go. Into this in the first place or anything else you care to bring up due to seven six thousand is our phone number. If you're calling from outside the 7 County Metro area. You can call collect the area code. Of course. It's 612-227-6012. Put you on the year with us here on ksjn on sportfolio will let me tell me you're still I guess more than a couple of months away from this year's Iditarod. What kind of things do you do with this time of year to try to get ready for the race even the dogs? Actually, we're just done getting ready to go to Minnesota to go race in the John beargrease race up in Duluth. Joe will be racing in that this year and we're going to probably leave about the day after Christmas. So we're headed your way all terrific and when is the big restart this year at that's early in January, right? Yeah, I think it's the seven. And what would these be a lot of the same dogs or any of the same dogs that they use in the Iditarod? Pretty much the same team. Is it it do they have any kind of all rest. They really need and running too grueling events. Lydia's two months apart. Is that about right or can even run closer together if they had to Oh, they could run closer together. They could run a race towards the end of January. I think without any problem mom, but the timing on this work out real well and still have plenty of time to recuperate in between this race in the Iditarod is dogs are tougher than I am maybe I am course I would die. If I were running the race instead of maybe sitting on a sled. I don't know maybe to be worse but it is the total tougher on the human being back in the sled than it is on the dogs. Well, it all depends. I mean it can be tough on Saint both parties. If you're not properly condition for it, if the drugs have been conditioned for it properly and then they're managed properly. It's usually not that type of a deal for him. Just sitting on the back of the spread you get to get off and run up the hills and steer the sled conditioning in the kind of preparation you put in Libby is most of it just the the physical part of preparation that you need to be able to to literally covered the distance in and be able to go that many miles or is more of it that have to do with dealing with the weather conditions are likely to face this time of year. You're talkin about the drivers conditioning if it's different for the drivers of the dogs, maybe you could tell us that but but really for both. What is the physical conditioning on and part of it is mental conditioning to it away, you know that you got to be tough enough to withstand the elements and be able to keep your head and all this other stuff and it's the same thing with the dogs to have to be mentally tough. And as well as physically physically tough and so they are training. So it's not that big of a deal to him. How many dogs can you have in the team for the beargrease living? Anywhere between 18 and 21. We still haven't decided on the final count there. Maybe I'm naive but how can you get 18 animals to go in the same direction at the same time? It's pretty exciting. Sometimes. Let me tell you by the time you got 18 dogs hooked up in a team there 40 or 45 feet in front of you. So just to be heard. Do you really have to count on the lead dog to to sort of keep the other dogs in line, or do you have to try this? I'm out of control all those dogs in your team. Will you have all your team dog? You know, they should have their basic manners to where they're not going to ignore cause any fights or you know, try to pull the team off the chase at least proper anything like that, but it's far as which direction you're going you have to rely exclusively on your lead dog. So it is very important that dog be trained very well. Sled dog racer. Libby riddles is our guest this afternoon on sportfolio here on Minnesota Public Radio. Ksjn. Libby was the first woman ever to win the prodigious prestigious not prodigious. I guess we're still just Alaska Iditarod couple years ago should be running in the Iditarod again this coming March from Anchorage to Nome and wonderful, Alaska. And if you have any questions to ask will be today, she's talking to us from Alaska where she makes her Homebase. Give us a call at 227-6000 number. Once again, he runs portfolio is 2 to 76,000 MJG Preston. Let me invite you to take part and join in with us today. Would you describe the Iditarod route to us a little bit as far as just, you know, the distance that the rain the the types of conditions that you typically encounter various points along the way. Yeah, they start the race down in the city of Anchorage and we run about 15 miles out of there and then have to come over a few Bridges know now to restart just about 30 miles out of Anchorage from there you're going on from Lowell and to take to get to the Alaska range and we cross through usually rainy pass to get across the Alaska range and then up onto the kuskokwim river in the city of McGrath from there. You going to the interior of the state where it's often the pre cold conditions and do just going over land until you get it to the Yukon and they alternate one section of the trail up in that area every year. They go a couple hundred Mile Stretch on the North or South depending on if it's an odd or even Year from there you jump on over to the Village of unalakleet, which is an Eskimo Village on Arctic coast and from there on up. It's a couple hundred more miles of to Nome. Just about every kind of condition use God in the state here on you know, you're going through. Real heavily heavily wooded areas and open arctic tundra and the weather conditions can really very, I mean I see to get up to almost 50 degrees above and you know, I've also been in 50 below up on the Yukon so you got to be pretty much prepared for it for any kind of weather conditions on you know, what the up on the coast we get these blowing winds and ground storm. That's probably why it is there actually a great deal of snow on the ground for most of the course living. Well, unfortunately with the weird weather, we've been having an estate the last few years. There is quite a bit of Ashley Fairground a person ends up going over because of a lack of snow. We've been having warmer weather is especially down on the Anchorage end of the trail. So sometimes you're actually bushwhacking just right over bare ground and gravel, which is can be kind of tough. I suppose the sleds really aren't made to go in that kind of condition, huh? Not really. It means a lot more work for the driver because you got to be off running behind us slept almost all the time then basically for about 2 weeks and getting from Anchorage to Nome during the Iditarod. It it it it's it's you and a pack of dogs and somehow you have to not only take care of yourself, but take care of them all along the way. Right, right. You got at least try to keep yourself in good enough condition that you can take care of your dogs properly. Do you have much other a human contact on the trail living whether it's with other drivers or at the weigh stations along the way? Oh, yeah, actually a fair amount because you know, a lot of people say well isn't raising lonely and all this stuff, but you know when you compare it to your everyday training out here where you never see anybody, you know in a very rarely, you know that the race is practically social event compared to that, you know, there's all kinds of people at the checkpoints, you know, some of them that you've known for years before and then of course all the other Racers, you know, and you're constantly passing people and then you stopped to feed your dogs and rest and then they pass you and you know what those kind of leapfrogging most the way to Nome. You mentioned where you live and in training around Taylor tell me a little bit about Taylor because I can't from what I've seen on the map. It does look like you'd be a little hurting for human contact. Yeah, but it's it's real good country for training dogs. We've got some of the best conditions for running dogs right here or anywhere in the state where one of the few places I can almost brag about having too much snow and it's a real good country for having dogs. You can catch fish up here for a dog food almost all year round and you know, it's it's real good training for lead dogs, and that sort of thing to being real Open Country and they do have to deal with the wind and all this stuff and if they can do their job up here doing it anywhere else pretty much a piece of cake for him. So it's it's pretty remote. All right, but some interesting area they've had sled dogs in this area, you know fruit Dion's and just kind of like keeping the tradition going here by keeping in with the dogs dog sled racing. Are you on a body of water there a living? You're up you're in in what West Central, Northwestern, Alaska? Right on what we're actually on inland ocean Bay off the Bering Sea and we're north of Norton sound that's on the race route. So I take us to some extent but we are on the way there and how far are you from home? People are most often surprised about this area. Is it for some reason to think of tundra is being flat and it's not, you know, we've got a mountain range about 50 60 miles away that you can see in the Rolling Hills, you know all over in this area and that's probably one of the things that surprised with people the most We're talking with the sled dog race or Libby riddles this afternoon here on sportfolio about sled dog racing. We got to talk to an expert to find out what the heck's going on with these things may be won the Alaska Iditarod a couple of years ago the first woman ever to do so, she'll be running it again this coming March and will be happy to have let me answer your questions about the sport of sled dog racing. Give us a call at 227-6000 as her number here on ksjn 2276 thousand standing by in Minneapolis is Karen go ahead with the driver trains the dogs do train your own drivers. And at what age do you start the training what skills are most important to teach the dogs and finally does a team of dogs need to work a lot together and it's a difficult to introduce new dogs into the team or can they kind of learn individually and then start to work together? Thanks. Okay, let's see. If I got lost that I think you know part of that was a little fuzzy can be there, but I can help you out Libby. Don't worry. Dancing was it is important for the person that raises the team to actually trained them themselves as one of the first questions if I'm right there and I think it's real important to do that. Even my partner Joe and I you know, we've each got about thirty adult dogs of our own. We keep out here together, but you know Joe's got his dogs and I've got mine but we do before race is will start, you know, the fruit Lisa's, you know, a month or two before the race will start driving the other person's dogs that we're going to use in the race and try to even see those dogs are still up and deal pretty much exclusively with those dogs so that they can really relate to you and work with you cuz there is quite a bit of difference in the Oster dog that I've raised actually from pups myself because you can actually started, you know training and socializing a puppet of very very young age. So I think that is very important and Let's see. What what else was as there may be about keeping dogs together as a team. What do you have to train them as a team? Whether it's hard to introduce new dogs to a group. Yeah, sometimes it is very hard on certain dogs in a strange dog so I can fit right in and others will have a hard time to get accepted and it is I think it is very important that the song Toby used to each other or if we have any dogs that we're going to borrow and try to work into the race team or even prior to erase what we always do as we got these dog Barnes Worth weather appear in will put all the dogs together in the barn and me and I'll get used to each other and there are two besides of just working with each other. So that's real important at the dogs all be used to working with each other and they won't fight and all this other stuff are the dogs at the race for you. Are are they are they can do you think of them as pets are they family? Are they employees just as what kind of relationship you have with? What's the best way to describe it? You know, what? Is it something like having a coach, you know, and then the team out there were all came together. But I'm the boss and there this you know, who are the players or whatever you want to call it, but I kind of I really enjoy having the dogs to you know, some of them that are more amenable to it dark in a line to being pets to know they get to come in the house every once in a while. Some of them actually prefer not to come in the house, but they probably would prefer not to come into we're talking to Libby riddles this afternoon on sportfolio here on ksjn 1330 Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota Public Radio. I'm Jay G Preston, maybe as a sled dog race a veteran of the grueling Alaska Iditarod winner of the race in 1985 and should be at it again in 1987. What kind of dogs do you use in in sled dog racing and one of the kinds of character? Fix that you're looking for in a dog go to put in your team. We also have some husky bird dog crosses and also some what week would call a straight shot husky. Although they're nothing from the Native Villages weather escanor, Indiana. Alaska inequalities, you know, first of all, you got to look for speed for sure and you are not going to get that injured on a race in a dog that's always eager to eat and has got a willing attitude to work which most of them do because it's his bread into him then if you want to get picky about it, you want to go for a dog who doesn't take too much food to maintain some of the Hound cross as we had that problem with cancer short hair dogs. They need more food than others in Fort Lee dog. Sometimes people would think that you want the smartest dog in the outfit, but that's not necessarily so because more so you just want a dog Willing to do what you ask and willing to work with you or phone number is 227-6000. Minnesota Public Radio ksjn 2276 thousand for Libby riddles. And waiting in St. Paul is Kevin. Go ahead Kevin out of breath had to go and turn radio down. I was wondering if if Libby would be willing to talk a little bit about the competition should be facing and the Iditarod coming up as far as the other drivers are concerned. Okay. That's the Challenger. Let me see who are some of the other a prominent drivers that do you run against in the Iditarod? Butcher in myself racing this year being both the female Champions or whatever. They want to say and of course she won the race last year, but there's also quite a few really good team signed up for this year's race as usual. You know, it's a lot of teams that have placed at least in the top 10 before Rick Swenson who's won. The race for times will be racing again dick Mackey who beat Swenson by 1 seconds back in whoever knows what year it was still be racing again. He bought a team from Joe Redington last year and I think he'll be pretty good guy shoes LeBron Barbie dolls done. Good and Jerry Austin and Bruce Johnson, who won the Yukon Quest last year is Dwayne Halverson to be racing again and Rick Mackey. Dejon Rowan Superman of Bulldogs plays pretty good. They'll be in the race to Mars Mar erasing and I don't have the total. Sign-up list here to Redington. I'll be in there. He got he's always doing good. Let's see. They'll be out to get some Robin Jacobson. The guy that won the Shelby racing the Iditarod I think for the first time this year and being in the race because there's always somebody that can sneak up on you and I'll look at it tomorrow when he was just raising the second time came by and everybody. Have you got some prize money at stake in this to Letty Instagram for first place and it's a total of 250000. I finally have a major sponsored to help out with the race last night. I didn't have too much for this year. I've got Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine for a sponsor so that would be great. I know they they will see that's how we got linked up is that I was actually using the stuff on the race in all before we got together. So it's a it's a good relationship but I get the impression that that that raising and training and taking care of the dogs is pretty much at least one full-time job by itself. I've got Pops to take care of also besides the Racing team and they've got to be fed almost in the racing dogs. Got to be fed. Probably three times a day and plus taking care of the other dogs in a lot. Here. It is. It's a lot of work when you talk about feeding these dogs. This is not opening the bag of gravy train him and pouring a little bit into the bowl at sounds like there's a lot more involved than that. Yes, it's not exactly know we feed him a lot of meat and fish to you know, so we're cooking dog food for him quite a bit and we are going through a lot of matter fact. Running water. So we having to haul water in all winter and you know, it just adds up to a lot of work went when you're out on the trail. Maybe you will you actually have to take equipment to A & M cook literally prepare meals for the dogs during a race. Call you'll be melting snow unless you know for you to cook with unless you happen to stop somewhere with his water. But in The Villages, at least a lot of times, you can get water to cook with on but you need to get at least three or four good for meals into those dogs every day at one of the main reasons for cooking to as you got to get a lot of water into him. So that's one of the main reasons for your meals everyday. What type of wood sled dog race or Libby riddles this afternoon on sportfolio MJG Preston and we'd like to welcome you aboard if you have a question for Libby about sled dog racing to 276 thousands are phone number that's to 276 thousand year on ksjn a little bit about how you got involved in the first place and why you decided to devote so much of your life. Well, I didn't really know much about sled dog racing when I came up to the state. I came up from st. Cloud Minnesota, by the way, and for what we did in the first few years and I've been up here. I was able to watch from the sled dog races on that they have right name for their the sprint races. And now that was pretty exciting to me. I'd always liked animals and I really liked seeing these dogs all working together and they move real quiet and something kind of hard to describe unless you've actually been there to see it but I was pretty impressed and So within the next few years after that started rounding up enough dogs to have some to help around the cabin, you know, hauling water and Hauling firewood nuts or thing just to work team and I think is that it started to acquire For conference what I was doing and get more experience in using the dogs. I start to think more about racing and then I had a handful of friends that would be racing Iditarod every year and you know that I met when I was buying dogs or whatever and you know giving them a hand on the race and you know at the start and all this got me pretty excited about doing too and it just seemed like the Iditarod was the ultimate in what you could do is let dog so I did my homework for a couple of years and really put some long miles of training on my dogs. And the first time I was able to come in 18th Place. A fair amount was made Libby when you won the race in 1985 a fair amount was made of the fact that you were the first woman ever to win. The race was significant difference between the Sexes as far as this activity is concerned. Depends on who's talking, you know, as far as I'm concerned, it's not that big of a deal really, you know, there was something to it because it wasn't what I was like to say is wrong even using female dogs for ages. Haven't they have been the first one to go through this big storm in order to help me win the race to and then also winning the humanitarian award at the same time. Those are the things. I like to concentrate on more. I guess then being the first woman to win the race, but I think it's nice for it because it's one of very very few sportswear men and women are competing equal basis in Owen in a competitive. With my prize money. Maybe this is a story should tell us the story about the storm. I was the only one who would go through the storm. Well, it's not necessarily so because a lot of people behind me end up going through it too, but what they've done a few years ago in the same kind of conditions is that everybody just kind of stopped in this little Eskimo Village and stayed there and waited for the weather to blow off, you know, so it's hard to say if I wouldn't have gone out for sure, but I was in first place in the race at that point and I figured as long as I could put one foot in front of the other I was going to try to keep going and keep my leaves. So we are about 250 miles from the finish line or so and we are we're having a good Arctic ground storm whipping up very very dangerous and What we're having to go across is just just froze big frozen Bay and Spa 60 miles across and flat everywhere and white everywhere and you know, I'm whippin up made it real hard to see where you're going and it was real effort to just stay on the trail and keep finding the trail steaks for me. It was fortunate that I live in train where I do because the dogs were, you know, they're relatively used to that kind of weather and having a little wind and snow blowing in their faces. So the dogs didn't give up on me at all. They did really well and you know, I'd had enough experience with whether myself that I kept out of trouble. I guess some other Racers had some problems were they almost got hypothermic and everything else because it is really dangerous, but thanks for the good ol dogs are able to make it across. Okay and kept a good leader. I would imagine that as bad as the cold in the wind and everything else was I supposed visibility was really your biggest concern. They're just getting totally disoriented. Uh, Factory, you know, the visibility was so poor that I usually have to go halfway in between two the next marquart even be able to find it. So you have to be real careful careful to keep the last trail marker behind you inside, you know, and then get still go find the next one and then direct the dogs to it and Frostbite and hypothermia were too but I was just trying to be real careful. Living in the Iditarod recovering more than a thousand miles over nearly two weeks worth of time. Which would you break down a typical day for us and tell us so, you know how much of the day you spend actually running on the trail? How much of it you spend maybe you preparing meals doing maintenance things how much you spend sleeping? For 5 hours with the dog and then you'll stop for about 4 hours and cook feed for them and rest for a little while. Whether it's night or day. Sometimes it's real warm during the day or you know, a lot of sunshine beating down on the dogs and you might want to rest more during the heat of the day as we we call it and run them longer at night, but generally, you know for 5 hours and then we stopped and it takes about an hour to get the dogs off an hour-and-a-half something like that cook for them and feed them and then if you're lucky you might get to lay down for about an hour and you know, then you got to start getting ready to go again and you pretty much just keep that up night and day people if you know, if you are going into a checkpoint, they'll take advantage of that and stop and feed the dogs they are because there's Are available and most the time you can at least get in out of the weather into somebody's house and get a warm cup of coffee or bowl of soup or something like that. But that's about how most people travel case when we take a short break and give them snacks and Route on these four to five-hour running stretches, but I'd say probably about six hours would be the maximum. You want to be running your dogs without really stopping even in that 6 hours. They get the short breaks and my wife and I had the twin baby girls is a couple of years ago, and I should know the answer to this question. But how can you survive with almost no sleep for 10 11 days at a time. Well, it's easy in a way. It's well, it's one of the hardest things on the race, but it's easy in that it does is something that you have worked and slaved to do all winter lawn. You know, you think to yourself. Well, if he can't even stay awake to do this, what are you doing at 4 so you try to stay to stay awake because you got you know, you're in a race you got that incentive a good reason to try to stay awake. Sled dog race or Libby riddles is our guest this afternoon on portfolio the winner of the 1985 Iditarod from Anchorage to Nome across Alaska. She'll be running in the race again here in the 1987 race takes place in the early part of March and she'll also be on her way to the greater Duluth area in the North shore of Lake Superior for the John beargrease sled dog race coming up here in a few weeks in the first part of January. Maybe I know you running the in that you ran the bear grease last year, I guess. So tell me a little bit about that course in about that race it still they try to get that established as an institution along the North Shore still I guess. Yeah, it is a real good race. I was really impressed with how well it was put on and you know, what's it's a little bit different for up for us because it's not such a manicure Trail and all which it is. You know, what the six but Wyatt's Light Rail to State maintained and they've even got little arrows before some of the sharp Curves in the trail which landscape kind of think it is pretty funny. But actually it's real tough race, you know, what's it's a lot of heels lots and lots of anything like this, but just that constant up-and-down is tough on the dogs and tough on the driver to because it means you steering a sled quite a bit and haven't you noticed it up a run on hills and it makes me to a real tough race, but it's a good race and that's why we're coming back again. YouTube Barney my partner will be racing at this year. He came in second on the Iditarod last year with our dogs to take turns running the Iditarod every year and then the way it's working out now as the other one then we'll run the beargrease. Yeah, well, we traditionally always run some MIT distance race there in the last two years. We've been on the beargrease. It's it's a long ways to go to erase that as long as we can get the airlines to cooperate and help give us a hand getting down there without too big of a deal will probably keep coming down to it. If you'd like to slip a question here is 2276 thousand here on ksjn 2276 thousand questions a little more relevant to running in Alaska that it would be say on the North shore of Lake Superior. But in a Wildgame large game bears and moose and things like that. Do they present a problem along the Iditarod Trail? Occasionally I might have to say that moose would be the biggest problem of any of those. They do have a herd of buffalo to app on one part of the trail, but could be your main animal encounter and they don't like dogs. They look a dog's knee think you'll for sure and you know, if it's a year where you have a lot of deep snow and it's time for them to get around they tend to go on all the established Trails as much as possible and they don't want to get off for anybody. So moves can be a very big problem. And moves are literally a very big problem. I mean how how much do these things weigh? And how much do you do your typical Dog's Way individually Libby. Orom 50lb 55 some of your Dogs release some dogs are on the sled dog circuit to have some wolf blood in them. Oh, there's a few I think, you know, they've experimented breeding the Huskies in with almost everything. You know, there are a few breeders to do. When I was first and I had two brothers that were 1/8 wolf but most people are are meeting with either like the hounds or Setters or Labs or fournette type of wine a dog. Olivia mentioned earlier that the total prize money at stake. Now in the Iditarod is a quarter of a million dollars or there's a $50,000 first prize. I imagine probably the money wasn't nearly that good when you first got into the running the Iditarod and that changed the the the nature of the race the atmosphere the spirit around it at all. Does it does it make the competition more intense it as it does have been a positive or A negative in your opinion. Do this as a profession, you know, it's not just a hobby to us and the only way you could possibly do it as a profession is if you know the prize money helps to make it worthwhile. It's like I think it's a definite Improvement. But as far as the competition, I think it's actually about the same. The major difference would be that you probably got more teams, you know coming out of the woodwork or coming out of retirement or whatever to come in and compete in the race and try for the prize money, but out on the trail, even when the everybody was still trying to get to know him first. The really the money is is not the prime consideration here as far as once you get into the races concerned. Up there in the top places. That's the most fun place to be. Let me see the last time we had you as a guest on sport Foley was around the time that the real stinker expedition was making tracks for the North Pole when I guess maybe when a lot of our listeners think of sled dogs and they think of the dogs that were involved in that expedition and that's only that holds any interest for you at all polar type of trips liberation's to where you're not necessarily racing the clock or anything else, but trying to achieve something like that. Well, I think it's really interesting to do something like that. I guess I'm more geared towards you know, the actual racing. No because you know, it would be it would be a lot of great adventure to go and do something like that. But you know, what I feel like is if I'm doing this for profession, I've got to stick to something that's going to haul in some prize money if I'm lucky so that's kind of attitude at 10 to take Libby riddles, I want to thank you for taking the time away from feeding the dogs to to come in like this here on sportfolio. I hope you and Joe have a real nice time at the John beargrease race along the North Shore and I wish you all the best of luck as you tackle the Iditarod again in March from Anchorage to Nome. Good luck. Yeah, thanks a lot out there. Don't forget Alka-Seltzer Plus is one of them what you want to use for your cold if you want to help support, let me riddle. So that little plugged in there, too. Libby riddles has been our guest here on sportfolio this afternoon and it seemed like there was some other bringing the thing I wanted to tell you in connection with that, but I can't think of what it is. Anyway, let me talk into it from her home and tell her Alaska where she and her partner Joe take care of all those dogs. It's time to explode another man. Surrounding sports medicine with me is Twin Cities physical therapist Tom Copeland Tom and I'm sure many others have often tried to use the justification for run speaking this week. Maybe a candy bar or a cookie or a donut at the weed quick energy. We're eating this for quick energy that the other sugar gives us. Is it working? Is it really do that eating a candy bar will give you momentarily a quick burst of a feeling of having energy, but then you start to lose that feeling and in fact, it works against you for about 20 to 30 minutes against you how so well, what happens is as you ingest or eat a candy bar or sugar or honey, something a high sugar content what this does is it causes a reaction in our body. The term of the organ is called the pancreas and its Secrets what's called insulin is a chemical reaction and this insulin what its job is to do is to help our body control the amount of blood sugars that we have. Well, putting all this sugar into the body right away in this kind of a state will cause a lot of that insulin to be produced and it'll burn up all of this energy. And in fact that the state that you're in at that point is that you have less blood sugar for a while for about 20 to 30 minutes then you had before you ate the candy bar and it actually decreases your performance or your ability to have it to do exercises. Then what you were hoping it would do is Dan Chris your performance. Is there ever a Time whether it's in an exercise or training or competition when sugar is appropriate to helping you achieve, you know, what you want to do. It is if it's in a diluted form and an exercise activities that last longer than about two and a half to three hours and then a diluted solution with some sugar in it is something that would be worthwhile. Other than that, you can't really get the sugar through your bloodstream into the working muscles fast enough to be of any benefit. So maybe a marathon runner say might find it useful to to to use some type of sugar right in quite often marathon runners will have different solutions that they either carry with them or people give them give to them somewhere along the race if sugar doesn't work for those of us who aren't marathon runners or whatever what kinds of things can we do to forgive us that kind of quick energy or increase energy level that we think we're getting from the candy bar. Well, the energy energy that you need for activity, you should get prior to the activity that you're going to be engaging in and you do this through what we call eating complex carbohydrates. It's a big word for eating starches vegetables fruits cereal. Grains foods that break down slowly and ultimately become glucose or become the blood sugars that you're looking for the energy that you need for muscles to work appropriate it work the way that they should complex carbohydrates will do that for you as opposed to the simple sugars. And what kind of lead time do you need to get them into your into your system before they can actually help you will actually that should be that kind of food should be eaten the day before the event and then some very easily digestible types of foods like toast or muffins or some kind of starch the day of the vent the vent to keep you from being too hungry. It takes a while quite a while for the carbohydrates to break down turn into the sugars or the energy that you need and then be ready or available to be used in exercise. By having a simple breakfast or pre-event type of meal three or four hours before you need it that activity level the carbohydrates will slowly break down and slowly feed your body and replenish the blood sugars that are being used by the body during activity or your event but you're bigger, I guess the term they use in running is carbohydrate load or whatever. They say that really should be more like 12 to 18 hours before the activity. The pregame meal actually should be eating the day before the event. Most people hear a lot about okay a pregame meal for hours before the game. Let's have steak eggs in the whole thing. That's really inappropriate partially because it takes so long for the for the meat and the eggs Etc to break down and be digested and give you some discomfort during the performance but it takes a lot longer for these proteins in and fasten the different foods, you have it that type of a pregame meal to actually be utilized by the body. So this thing should be in the Before and they send the significant amount of the pregame meal should be in complex. Carbohydrates is 75% of the meal should be complex carb pancakes things like that things like that are the types of food. That should be eaten for pregame meal and there are culinary expert as well as physical therapist Tom Copeland by the way, Will Be Our Guest on portfolio for the entire our next Saturday from noon to 1 I'll be able to answer your questions about sports medicine about fitness and exercise and all those kind of things. I thought next week might be a nice time they have time on because maybe some of you will be getting some Christmas presents that are exercise fitness-related if you might want to understand how to use before you get involved in the movie that exercycle is finally going to come through for you this year or those those free weights or I don't know Nautilus people get Nautilus for Christmas me to get it for themselves. Anyway the Big Thing Gift certificates you a man. So you might have something like that, but you're going to have to figure out how you're going to get involved with Tom will be able to help you with that or perhaps you're making a New Year's resolution that you're going to do things to improve your physical fitness and you don't want to go into these things lightly. So maybe a little consultation on the telephone with her friend Tom Copeland get you started so that will be our guest on sportfolio next Saturday right here on ksjn MJG present. Thank you for being with us today. Libby riddles get sorry continue. Thanks being patient enough to wait for us to get a an audible phone line with her to be honest. I guess this afternoon so we can our whiz-bang associate producer has done an awful lot to get Libby set up with this over the past couple of weeks. Of course. She does all the other work tomorrow the part came back for more this afternoon. And before I suppose I stand sitting there waiting to flat twist. Once is enough unless you think I would learn and get off your show and I have to go to that grief every week with new and you don't even pay any sports notes again here Mark Go Gopher basketball at University of Detroit tonight North Stars at home against the Quebec nordiques. The Gopher hockey teams in Alaska, Alaska Fairbanks tonight in a tournament at Anchorage with a championship games at 4 tomorrow if they win a knighted play Alaska Anchorage tomorrow and the Vikings rest in peace about them. The Vikings end it all tomorrow against the New Orleans Saints at the Metrodome. And once again, the Vikings are in a position to achieve the ultimate in Viking a compass with an eight and eight seasons by losing tomorrow in the first hour of the program a good long. Look at this week's developments in the Iran-Contra case in the second half of the program this afternoon in the 2-hour going to take a good long. Look at the new radar system. That's soon to be operational for the United States. Very controversial new radar system the Soviets don't like it one bit. We got a special extended report looking at that time. I open the 3 this afternoon. It's the best of mid day this week. You repeat the our live coverage of a national Press Club appearance by former Senator J. William Fulbright Sweet Apple of Saint Paul.