Kristin Terpening I grew up in an Air Force family, moving from state to state, and occasionally overseas. I loved getting to live in so many different places with different cultures and natural landscapes. As a kid I was outdoors as much as possible, playing all kinds of sports, riding bikes, building forts, etc. My first organized sport was softball, but I really looked forward to Jr. high, when I could finally compete in track and field. My dad even made a practice hurdle for me. In high school, I was a hurdler, sprinter, long/triple jumper, and shot/discus thrower. I was eager to start college so I could finally try my hand at javelin. I threw javelin, discus, and shot for Auburn University, and in my junior year I was the Southeast Conference (SEC) champion in discus and qualified for NCAA (then AIAW) nationals in javelin. After graduation I thought my throwing career was over, because I didn’t know there were any avenues for throwing competitions outside of school.

Professionally, I was a career wildlife biologist working in Texas and Arizona, with stints in academia, not-for-profit conservation, county government, private consulting, and finally state government. I also took a few years off to pursue furniture making and worked at a high-end yacht building company in Maine.

In 2018 I was diagnosed with bladder cancer and had two surgeries to remove tumors, followed by a month of radiation therapy. In 2019 I had a radical cystectomy, a major open abdominal surgery resulting in removal of several organs and lymph nodes. My major motivation for recovery was to get myself in shape to once again compete in the sport that has brought me such joy. So, after a 38-year hiatus and seven months post-surgery, I competed in discus, shot, and javelin at the Tucson Senior Olympics Festival in 2020.

Since then, I’ve had two additional major open abdominal surgeries, so my competitions were up and down as my body dealt with recoveries. In between surgeries, I was the 2022 USATF Masters national champion (W60-64) for javelin, discus, and shot; competed for Team USA at the 2023 World Masters indoors in Torun, Poland; 2025 silver medalist at USATF Masters Nationals Indoors; and 2025 bronze medalist in javelin, weight, shot, and discus at World Masters Indoors in Gainesville, FL.

All the friends I’ve made competing at the Masters level have been so inspiring. I’ve realized that at every competition, though, many of the people I enjoyed hanging out with the most were Striders. I’m glad to be part of this fun, welcoming, and supportive team!