"I don't like to talk, I like to work."

Susan's profile for Sports Illustrated came just before her 14th Iditarod {she placed 3rd}. She's not the provocative, swimsuit-clad woman on the cover ~ but she once did a swimsuit spot for a local television station. Her mentor, Joe Redington, Sr., arranged for a swimsuited Susan to be filmed bathing in a frozen lake {her usual method of keeping clean at the time}. She just walked out, chopped a hole in the ice + jumped in, landing her first sponsor!

Sports Illustrated | CC BY

Hard work is something Susan definitely knew a thing about. Early on in Alaska, she worked as a musk ox midwife in order to make ends meet while she learned dog sledding. Her work ethic was one of her attractions for her husband David ~ they first met when he was the lawyer collecting on the bill for food for Susan's dogs. The several-thousand-dollar tab was the result of the dog food company sponsorship not coming through, and Susan paid it off entirely ... in $20 and $25 increments.

quietly urban | CC BY-ND