User:Ronkainen/Kate Tully Ronkainen

Ancestral History: It all started in Sonkajarvi, Finland. The legend of Ronkainen the Robber was awakened, and his tactics of qualifying men for his band  were revived. Finnish legend says, in the late 1800s, Ronkainen would  only accept men who could complete a physically grueling obstacle  course, while bearing heavy sacks of grain or live swine on their backs. It is rumored that men would often steal wives from nearby villages. Today this competition has grown into an annual world championship!

Rowing Career: Kate was born in Syracuse, NY and moved to Houston, Texas in 1987. She attended The University of Texas, Austin and was a member of the Texas Crew Team, and then after Title IV, walked onto the UT Varsity Womens' Rowing Team and received a scholarship. At UT, Kate was coached by Carie Graves, 2 time Olympic medal winner for Rowing in the Olympics. Kate still holds the 2k erg best record at the University of Texas. Kate was on the US National Rowing Team from 2001-2003 and trained at the Barwon Rowing Club in Geelong, Australia, outside of Melbourne leading up to Olympic Trials for the 2004 team. There, she was coached by Dick Garrard. This international training was funded in part by a $10,000 competitive grant from Balance Bar. Though Kate did not make the 2004 team, her long time boyfriend, now friend, Bryan Volpenhein, won a gold medal for Rowing at the Athens 2004 Olympics.

Seattle, WA: In 2004, Kate moved to Seattle and worked in sales and product management, most recently for Zillow.com. She began rock climbing and mountaineering through the Washington Alpine Club, where she volunteer coached beginner mountaineers and intermediate traditional climbing. During her time there, she met Fred Beckey, a famous mountaineer, who has made more first ascents than anyone in North America.

Denali National Park, Alaska: Kate Ronkainen, Doug Daniel, Benjamin Gadbaw and Alex Ford successfully summited Mt. McKinley aka Denali, the highest peak in North America during June and July of 2011.

After completing her Masters Degree at the University of Texas, Austin, Kate is back in Seattle looking for adventure.