The recipient of the 2026 Spirit of the Equinox Award is Roxane Rigo. Below is the presentation for Roxane by Bobbi Jo Katchmar.
Roxane isn’t here this evening, but that’s her way, to not be in the spotlight. She does the things in her community without expecting recognition or fanfare.
I’d seen Roxane walking before I ever knew who she was. I used to see a couple of ladies during lunch walking really fast, ponytails swaying as they talked. I later learned it was Roxane Rigo and Karla Taylor Welch and sometimes others, and they could really move. They would walk around 10 miles during lunch like it was nothing. They could walk so fast!
I met Roxane years later when I started working for the court. She worked for the District Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender Agency, and after retirement, at as a judicial assistant to a judge in Nome. She tried to talk me into applying for the position, and she was so persuasive that I really started considering that I could move there and do it!
One year I did the Midnight Sun Run with Roxane and another friend. While walking, she told us she had gone to Anchorage and completed the Mayor’s Marathon, then came right back so she could do the MSR. We were amazed! She had so much energy and eventually told us she needed to walk faster, so we told her to go on. And she took off and got to the finish at least 20 minutes before we did.
Again, Roxane doesn’t seek the spotlight or fanfare. She is a no-nonsense person who likes to get things done. If you’ve ever driven on Farmer’s Loop Road, you’ve probably seen a blonde woman in a bright orange or yellow shirt picking up litter. That’s Roxane. She does it because she cares about her community.
Roxane helps out in many ways behind the scenes of many RCN events. She and her husband, Jeff, volunteer and help sweep the course after a race. They have been doing the Steve’s Equinox Training (SET) run set up/take down for many years.
Today, Roxane completed another Equinox Marathon, making it 30* finishes. This puts her in 10th place overall as having finished the most races, quite an accomplishment. When you see Roxane, tell her congratulations, although she probably won’t want to
hear it.
* According to RCN website.