Breaking the Cycle: Kate Leeming Shackleton Lecture
Tuesday 12 of October was the date of this year’s Shackleton Lecture. The Shackleton Lecture is a highlight of the school calendar with staff and students alike, as the Lectures are always delivered by people that share the same spirit of adventure that Dulwich Alumni Ernest Shackleton (after whom the lectures are named) had. This year, due to pandemic travel restrictions, the Shackleton Lecture could not be delivered in person. Instead, it was held in the library using the popular video conferencing platform Zoom. The event was organized and hosted by Luke Webb.
Dr. Kate Leeming’s adventurer credentials make her imminently suitable to deliver a Shackleton Lecture. What she has achieved already is frankly astonishing. She is perhaps best described as an extreme cyclist that has cycled around some of the most inhospitable places on Earth, fearlessly facing extremes of heat and cold:
As an explorer/adventurer, she has cycled more than the equivalent of two laps around the circumference of the Earth (at the equator). She is the first person in history to cycle an unbroken line from Africa’s most westerly to its most easterly point.
Aside from Katie's incredible feats of cycling endurance, the most interesting aspect of the lecture was the way that she explained the complexity involved in planning an adventure. She provided the small audience in the library with an inspirational story and valuable insights on how it is possible to achieve your dreams via the application of focused hard work and planning.
At one stage during the lecture, Kate used an extended metaphor, likening the process of planning an adventure to the process of painting an artwork. Kate explained how she hoped that her experiences of planning adventures would inspire our students and how the logistical skills of planning an adventure were transferable and could be applied to any aspect of life. Kate also gave us a candid explanation of the difficulties of finding funding for an adventure and an insight into what she is planning for 2022 in the form of Breaking the Cycle: South Pole. She is currently in the process of seeking funding for a proposed crossing of the Antarctic Continent via the South Pole. Antarctica is the coldest, highest, driest, windiest continent on Earth.
If you would like to help fund Kate’s next big adventure, you can donate to her breaking the cycle website. Kate sees it as part of her mission to inspire people.
Kate spoke at length about what keeps her going through the most difficult times of her journeys. She explained that the ability to see the beauty in your environment is crucial: “You can look at the Sahara and see a horrible place, or a place of beauty. It’s much easier to keep going if you see the beauty in your environment”.
It’s this pioneering spirit that made Kate’s lecture so entertaining. It’s always a pleasure to listen to a confident and articulate public speaker who is engaged and engaging throughout. Overall, this was a fascinating lecture delivered by a genuinely remarkable, passionate, and driven person. The nuanced nature of the lecture she delivered was further enhanced by taking place in the relaxed and informal environment of the school library. Once the lecture was finished Kate answered numerous questions from staff and students about her experiences and everyone left feeling motivated and inspired. It’s hard to imagine a more appropriate Shackleton Lecturer than one that’s planning an adventure that starts where Shackleton’s voyage ended.
