Featured Athlete – Amy Berkin Chavez

Amy Berkin Chavez is no ordinary athlete.  In 2001, she discovered triathlons from her marathon training partner and became instantly hooked.  She has completed over 60 marathons, 18 Long Distance triathlon races, 11 100-mile ultrarunning races and numerous 50-mile ultra runs, half triathlon distance races, 50Ks and misc. Olympic and Sprint triathlon events.  She has dedicated her life to working hard and training even harder. 

Amy resides in Santa Monica, CA and is a mom of a 23-year-old daughter who is currently in Georgia working as a volunteer for the Americorp program.  When Amy isn’t riding her bike, running or swimming you can find her at work.  She’s a nurse and works three 12 hour shifts a week.  She is able to balance her long hours working with fitting in her long training miles over the days she’s off.  Amy finds a similar connection to helping people and sometimes it’s at the hospital and other times it’s during a race. 

When it comes to giving tips about racing Amy says it’s always important to check out logistics such as how far the nearest hotel or town is from the race start and/or sleeping accommodations. Location is a big factor since you can be racing past 24 hours and you want to make sure the location and the course are somewhere you can enjoy. She also tries to get input from people who have done the race to get a better sense of what she may be signing up for.

Amy has volunteered at several running events in Southern California and has crewed and paced hundreds of her friends and fellow athletes. She loves giving back to the ultra running and triathlon and help people out on the course who are in all stages of emotion, exhaustion, elation and pain throughout the day. She believes it’s a privilege to be trusted with helping to get your runner to the finish of a 100 miler. It’s not about you or a workout but about helping to achieve their goals and if those goals differ throughout the race, it’s about getting them to the finish happy with their performance!

“I just love it! I love the friendships one makes, I love the camaraderie on the course, I love to see how far I can push myself. I have a lot of fun out there, even when I suffer! “

Amy was planning to race Wildflower for the seventh time but due to a recent injury, she will not be able to participate in the full triathlon but will tackle the 10.7 mile trail run. Either way, she’s excited the event is happening again in even a bigger way than ever before.