Kristi Berg is a USAC cycling coach and ACE Personal trainer with Seattle’s Cycle University. In addition to her coaching gig, Kristi also races road bikes, mountain bikes, and cyclocross.
A few years back Kristi was looking for ways to fill the gap in between cyclocross and road / mountain bike season.
There is no off season for Kristi: Competing at Kelly Creek.
Kristi’s husband is a fireman with Snohomish County Fire Dist. #7 and he had competed in the Fire Fighter’s Tower Climb a couple times. Kristi was amazed at how the firefighters dashed up the 69 floors and 1311 stairs in full fire gear and breathing bottled air.
After watching in awe for a couple years, Kristi became aware of the civilian tower climb held three weeks after the fire fighter climb. “I had to do it so I could experience what my husband had done. Of course, I don’t run in fire gear, and after doing it for a couple years in regular clothing you realize how hard the fire fighters have it!“
This year’s event is on March 16, and marks Kristi’s 6th year of competion. She’ll attempt to improve her personal time, and help to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. Last year the climb raised over $700,000 and this year is on track to raise over $1 million.
This year, Kristi is dedicating her effort to the memory of Dr. James W. Smith. Dr. Smith was Lee Smith’s (fellow road and cross racer) father, and he passed away in November from Leukemia. Lee is a client and friend of Kristi’s, and “her dad’s wish was that everyone he knew would donate to help find a cure for Leukemia, so this is for him and everyone else out there suffering from this disease.“
To learn more about the climb visit Big Climb for Leukemia.
