late-blooming athletes: a compilation
The expanding outdoors late-blooming athlete series here at Expand Outdoors features stories of people I call “late-blooming athletes.” They’re folks who didn’t identify as athletic growing up, and only began experiencing the outdoors and a passion for fitness and health as adults. They have all experienced profound transformation through fitness and have each expanded outdoors—physically, mentally and spiritually.
My intent in featuring these amazing late bloomers is to showcase their stories and remind you that:
it’s never too late to play outside.
I hope you enjoy reading these interviews as much as I enjoyed interviewing these athletes. And if you, or anyone you know is a late-blooming athlete with a desire to share your story, please contact me. I’d love to set up an interview.
cameron
Meet Cameron (CJ), a man. A husband. A father. An employee. A runner. A runner who didn’t run until he was 36. A runner who lost 55 pounds during an office competition and has since witnessed his life change. His story unfolds with openness and honesty, and I found myself inspired by his passion and enthusiasm for the sport and the changes it’s created in his life.
Read Expanding Outdoors: An Interview with CJ
tori
Meet Tori Klassen. A single mother. A runner. A climber. A woman. An athlete. Her story is about perseverance. It’s about failing and finding motivation within that failure. It’s about learning who you are, how to take care of yourself, searching for—and finding—reservoirs of strength and endurance within ourselves. Tori calls it intrinsic motivation
Read Expanding Outdoors: An Interview with Tori
anne
Meet Anne Hughes, who, at the age of 42, was introduced to the sport of rock climbing and at the time of the interview, at age 56, met her long-held goal of sending a 5.12a. Her story is about making choices, finding passions and living with grace and power. It’s about looking at fitness in three dimensions.
Read Expanding Outdoors: Climbing in Three Dimensions with Anne Hughes
jared
Meet Jared Kohlmann. His story is one a lot of us are familiar with. He doesn’t love running. He’s got unpleasant and awkward memories of running as a child. He never thought of himself as “a runner." Yet when he turned 33 this past spring, with two small children at home, looking to make a lifestyle change, he signed up for The Bolder Boulder, a local 10K race.
Read Expanding Outdoors: An Interview with Jared
suzan
Meet Suzan Bond. An entrepreneur living in Boulder, CO who has struggled with serious health issues since she was six months old. She talks about how her definition of athlete—and her belief that it was inaccessible to her—shifted and expanded as she trained for a hike to reach the summit of one two of Colorado peaks over 14,000 feet above sea level.
Read Expanding Outdoors: Climbing 14,000 feet with Suzan Bond
jen
Meet Jen Floyd. She's a mom, wife, employee and community organizer who suddenly realized, after a rude awakening following a fun family outing, that her weight had crept up over the years without notice. She vowed then and there to make a change and for her 35th birthday, ran her first 5k. Jen talks with us about that defining moment, about building a strong community of support and how she keeps running despite a strong love for the sport.
Read Expanding Outdoors: Running a first 5k with Jen Floyd
caspar
Meet Caspar Vregenbregt. He's a husband, a father of two, an architect who commutes across Europe during the week for work, and a lover of the outdoors. He enjoyed a ton of climbing in his 20s, but when family and career took priority, his level of activity waned. Fifteen years and 25 kilos (55 pounds) later, he decided he needed to make a change. At 38, he lost 30 lbs and ran his first marathon.
Read Getting Back in Shape: Running a Marathon with Caspar Vregenbregt
ann
Meet Ann Mehl, a fellow life coach who, as a sophomore in college, decided to run the Boston Marathon—never having run before. She talks about feeling lost and overwhelmed, she shares her novice training tricks that still work for her today, and she tells us about the transformation she experienced during the race that changed the trajectory of her life forever.
Read Late-blooming Athlete: Ann Mehl's 26.2-Mile Transformation
lynne
Meet Lynne. A self-described suburban mom who found herself feeling restless after her daughter left for college a few years ago. At the age of 63, she set out with a team of remarkable women for three summits in Africa—including Kilimanjaro. In her interview, she talks about her motivation, her training, her inspiration and her journey from the suburbs of Chicago to the highest point in Africa, redefining herself and her idea of femininity.
Read Climbing Kilimanjaro at 63: Late-Blooming Athlete Lynne Knutson Shares Her Journey
nancy
Meet Nancy. Since beginning to run in her 30s, she's used play as a way to connect to her body and stay active. Now in her 60s she's hiked the Inca Trail in Machu Picchu, backpacked from Rim-to-Rim of the Grand Canyon and has covered miles and miles through the Oregon Cascades, all while having tons of fun, playing and reminding herself to stay "light-heared, light-footed and light-driven."
Read Late-blooming Athlete: Nancy Tyler Discovers Strength Through Play
alexis
Meet Alexis. Her story is one of triumph and passion. After years of struggling with her weight and losing her mother to terminal illness, she made the difficult decision to undergo weight loss surgery. Her commitment to her health and staying active helped her begin a workout routine that led her to the outdoors and ultimately snowboarding, where she talks about finally reconnecting to herself. And having a blast doing it.
welcome
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If you or someone you know is a late-blooming athlete, please contact me. I'd love to hear your story!.