Pro file: Gina Kehr

October 5, 3:31 PMBoston Triathlon ExaminerClaire Lunardoni

Gina Kehr celebrates her fifth top-ten finish in Kona just months after
the birth of her daughter. Photo courtesy Gina Kehr & Mark Freeland

Gina Kehr is the full package: wife, businesswoman, pro triathlete, and supermom. With over a decade of professional triathlon racing under her race belt, and a top-ten finish in Hawaii five of those years, Kehr seems to have figured out what every age group triathlete struggles to nail down: a balance between work, family, competition, and speed.

Perhaps Kehr’s key to balancing her professional career, triathlon career, and family is that she targets only a few big races a year and trains to shine. She even turned down her Hawaii slot the first time she qualified. Considering her track record in Kona compared to racing junkies, her focus seems to be working. This year Kehr’s passport got a vacation. Six of the seven races in which she participated in her Hawaii and Clearwater build-up this year were in her home state of California.

In the nine years between her first World Championships in 2000 and last year, Gina has missed the top ten only one year that she competed (in 2002 she was eleventh–hardly a bad race). Talk about consistency! In those nine years, she shattered her arm and gave birth to two children. After taking a nearly 3-year hiatus from racing between Kona in 2003 and Kona 2006, Kehr took 4th, shocking the Ironman world.

Kehr’s success rate at the world championships puts her in the company of triathlon legends. Of her contemporaries (Gina has been racing long enough to span the time gap between Paula Newby-Fraser and Chrissie Wellington), only eleven other women have seen the inside of the top 10 as often as Gina. Of those eleven women, only five are on the start list for this year: Fernanda Keller, Belinda Granger, Natascha Badmann, Jo Lawn, and Kate Major. Interestingly, of the six women competing this year who have been a frequent feature in the top ten for the past decade, only Natascha Badmann has taken home the victory. Maybe Gina will be the second to earn the distinction in 2009.

In 2008, Ironman pundits may have been ready to write Kehr off. Sure, she had had a good race in 2006, but now she had skipped another year of training and had another baby. Plus, she was getting on in years (Kehr turned 40 last month). Instead, Gina dazzled the world by capturing 9th place just after her daughter’s eight-month birthday. “The life lessons she experienced [after having children] sharpened her mental focus and, although she shocked the world at the Hawaiian Ironman… she did not surprise herself,” says Gina’s official media biography.

Kehr is also a supporter of Jenny’s Light, a charitable organization founded by Becky Lavelle to raise money and awareness for issues related to postpartum depression. Lavelle lost her sister, Jenny and infant nephew as a result of the untreated postpartum depression and psychosis. As a mother, Kehr says that she feels compelled to spread the word about Jenny’s Light. Many new mothers, especially those who have been very active in sports or a career (or both), suffer with the transition to their new role as mothers. Since a baby is meant to be the most joyful experience in their lives, they may feel like they are “bad mothers” if they complain about their depression symptoms, and so they suffer in silence. Kehr’s role as a mother has dovetailed with her pro triathlon career, but she understands that many women like Jenny Bankston have trouble making the transition to motherhood. Kehr supports Jenny’s Light’s efforts to improve the detection and treatment of postpartum depression.

Gina Kehr has proven that she is one of those women who can do everything. Pile on the pressure of a career and a family, and she only seems to get stronger. Now that she has had another year to build on her post-baby fitness from last year, Kehr will be a force to be reckoned with at the front of the women’s field. We look forward to watching her prove that female triathletes, like a good wine, only get better with age.

Gina Kehr

Nationality: American
Age: 40
Pro since: 1998
Career highlights:

• Five times top ten in Hawaii (2008, 2006, 2003, 2001, 2000)
• 1st place Stealhead 70.3, 2008
• 1st place ITU Boston 2003
• 1st place Ironman USA 2003
• 2nd place Ironman Germany 2001
• 2nd place Ironman France 2002
• 2nd place Philippines 70.3, 2008
  What she rides: Guro Crono
  Sponsors: TriBike Transport, H2O Overdrive, Guru Bikes, Zoot, Kaenon Eyeware, Gu, 3T,Health Logic LLC, Stanford Masters Swimming, Kona Endurance, Front of the Pack, Coldwell Banker, Janie and John Barman

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-19794-Boston-Triathlon-Examiner%7Ey2009m10d5-Pro-file-Gina-Kehr