Biography

Marshall Marathon 2010
Katie (with husband, Rick, to the far right)

I have been training and running marathons for nearly 15 years.  I've run 33 marathons and 13 50Ks, while also regularly racing in almost every distance leading up to the marathon as well.  My lifelong goal is to run a marathon in every state.  I've run marathons in 24 states along with my husband.  We've run our town's local Rocket City Marathon (I've run it several times, most recently as a pacer), small trail marathons, and large races like the Rock 'N' Roll events and the Chicago Marathon.  Though I've qualified for Boston over a dozen times, I've yet to run it and hope maybe someday I will.  I've shared most of my race reports and training here on this blog.

Half of the states we've completed have been done after our first 2 children were born.  We've creatively sought ways to visit family/take babysitters on trips to allow our entire young family to see the country on these marathon trips, though we did take a solo trip to run Maui, Hawaii for our 5th anniversary!  I've run through pregnancies (including my last in 2014, where I ran a 3:32 marathon while 7 weeks pregnant and ran up until delivery day).  My city puts on the South's toughest trail 50K (called Mountain Mist), and I've been hooked on it ever since I completed my first one in 2003.  I've completed 10 of them over the last 14 years and have been competitively placed in several, even winning the women's race one year.

My running achievements seems to come in spurts as we grow our family.  In 2004, I won the Huntsville Track Club Grand Prix Female award and the Female Performance Award.  That year I was one of two women to achieve the first local "Grand Slam" award and set several of my PRs.  I had our first 2 children in 2006 and 2007 and took some time off from competitive racing.  Then, I had a nice comeback year in 2011 where I PRed in the 5K (19:55), half marathon (1:30:53), and marathon (3:15:33), breaking three of my toughest old PRs.  The Baltimore Marathon (October 13, 2012) is my current marathon PR (3:12:31).  My youngest child is now 1 1/2, and I hope to make a good comeback to marathoning in the future!

I run for the Fleet Feet Racing Team here in Huntsville, AL, and I find the camaraderie and friendships formed in that group to be like no other.  While I love to race and compete, I also find great joy in the simple runs I can now do with my husband and children.