a short history on kat
life before running
Born and raised on Vancouver Island, Kat spent her childhood playing in the forest and exploring the beaches near her house. Her love for nature and being outside was instilled in her at a very young age.
In Grade 3 she did her first cross country race. She came in 6th place and remembers the Grade 5’s being so proud of her. She kept to cross country through elementary and middle school, along with many other activities such as soccer, dance and piano. Once she got to high school, she decided she wanted to focus on dance and maintained a busy schedule with that until she graduated. She would go out for runs every once in a while and was told that she had a ‘natural ability’, but she never took it too seriously.
becoming a runner
When Kat made the move to the ‘big city’ (aka Vancouver BC), she joined a running group because she wanted to meet people and train for a half marathon. She thought this would be the longest distance she would ever run, but it didn’t take long for someone to convince her to train for a marathon. After missing the Boston Marathon qualifying (“BQ”) time by 35 seconds in her first marathon, she knew she had to go back for another one! She was able to “BQ” at her next race and ended up running Boston in 2013. In 2023 she ran her 8th marathon in 2:49:20, which was an 6 minute personal best.
let’s try ultra running?
In 2012, Kat met her good friend Michelle Ford while working at a restaurant in Vancouver, and Michelle introduced Kat to trail running. The two of them, plus Michelle’s husband Jesse and friend Cody, started Fraser Street Run Club as a way to create community through running. That’s when all the trail fun started!
They ran some marathons together but then decided to train for Squamish 50k. Their first ultra! It did NOT go well for Kat, but the experience and distance didn’t scare her off. She loved challenging herself, setting goals to run longer distances and especially loved being in the forest and mountains. Since her first 50k, she has run seventeen other 50k’s, two 50 miler, three 100k’s and four 100 milers. She also ran for Team Canada twice at the World Trail Championships, and in 2019 she won a Golden Ticket to Western States Endurance run where she came in in 8th woman - earning a spot for the 2021 race.
passing it on through coaching
Kat found her love for coaching when she started helping one of her best friends create a marathon training plan. She loved the connection they were able to make through running, and was so inspired watching her friend become a stronger and more confident runner. Kat realized that she wanted to work with more people through this process and help them reach their goals.
Whether someone is getting into running and hopes to do a 5km or someone is aiming to work on their endurance for a 100 miler, Kat is excited to work with them throughout their training journey!
follow my journey
