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Kathryn Bertine was born on May 11th, 1975 and grew up in the small
NYC suburb of Bronxville, NY. Destined for a life of athleticism,
Bertine sought out every sport offered, and eventually began to
focus on figure skating at the age of 11. In addition to skating,
she ran cross-country, track and played on the softball team through
high schooltraining upwards of 4 hours a day. By senior year,
she had successfully auditioned for the Ice Capades, but postponed
the tour so she could get her education first. Her love for sport
continued through college, where she rowed on the varsity crew team
and continued her skating at Colgate University. She graduated in
1997, and was the vice president of her class.
After a wild year of touring with Holiday on Ice and Hollywood on
Ice after college, Bertine got her MFA in creative writing from
the University of Arizona in 2000, where she studied the craft of
nonfiction. With a lot of luck, a book deal fell into her lap on
her 25th birthday, making Bertine the youngest author to be signed
by Little, Brown and Company. Feeling as though she had accomplished
her personal goals in figure skating, Bertine needed a new sport
to channel her competitive energies into, and chose triathlon.
The thought of a sport that didnt include ice was foreign
yet appealing to me, and Tucson isnt known for its cold weather,
so I bought some goggles, a bike, and got out my old sneakers, Bertine said. Within the year, she was the Southwest Collegiate
Champion and held an All-American ranking from the USA Triathlon
association. She became hooked on the sport.
In the fall of 2002, after hitting the save button on her final
draft of All The Sundays Yet to Come, Bertine packed up a Uhaul
and relocated to Boulder, CO to pursue her triathlon goals. She
hooked up with renowned triathlete-turned-coach, 2001 world champion
Siri Lindley, and has her sights set on furthering her Ironman and Olympic distance success.
"I haven't reached my peak yet," says Bertine. "I want to see how far I can take triathlon."
In
addition to training upwards of 20 hours a week, Bertine coaches
skating at a local rink and remains involved in the sport she first
fell in love with.
If I can help young athletes achieve their goals, then there
is nothing more fulfilling than that. Ill always have skating
in my life, at least from the coaching perspective.
She is currently at work on a new book proposal and writes various
freelance articles in the sports journalism field, including ESPN,
Triathlete, Inside Triathlon and US Weekly. In addition to writing
books, Bertine has a secret desire to act on the big screen as well
as explore the world of broadcast sports journalism. Shell
try to take it one day at a time, but makes no promises.
There is just so much good stuff out there, Bertine
says. I want to do as much as I can.
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