My current pursuits are cross-country ski racing and mountain running, honing my fitness in order to be one of the best in the World. I raced in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea for cross-country skiing. In the summer of 2017, I was part of the US team for the World Mountain Running Championships in Premana, Italy; the US women took the team gold medal.
I’m one of the lucky ones who gets to follow her dreams and do something I love – ski racing, running and training – as my life’s work at the moment. In my back pocket, I hold a degree in Civil Engineering, so that eventually when the greater world invades, I can design buildings and bridges and engage the mathematical side of my mind. For now, I keep that part on low power mode, and fuel my competitive athletic instincts, my devouring-of-literature side, and my inclinations to dabble in creativity-with-music-and-art.
I’m a member of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, an elite skiing, biathlon, and rowing team based out of Craftsbury. Beginning in 2018, I am also a member of the Salomon Running team for the US region. Most of the time these days I live in quiet Craftsbury, Vermont, training on the trails of the Craftsbury Outdoor Center and the roads nearby. I’m trying to work on a little more exploration farther afield, but the siren-song of literature and athletic focus and rest, and enjoying this microcosm of a community and natural surroundings is strong. As fall approaches my team attends training camps where we can check our fitness against other athletes and dial in our preparation for the winter. And then winter, we travel all over, and are very lucky to do so – usually starting the domestic racing season in the Western US, chasing US Nationals around the country depending on the year, and earning the opportunity to represent the US while racing in Europe. In 2016 I started my season racing in Period I of the cross-country World Cup. In the 2017-18 season, I won all four US Titles at cross-country skiing Nationals in Anchorage, AK, bringing my lifetime total to 6 National titles.
Follow me on my Facebook athlete page at: https://facebook.com/caitlinpattersonskier
Or my instagram page: @caitlinmpatterson
A few more objective details:
Team: Craftsbury Green Racing Project, website here
Coach: Pepa Miloucheva
Previous coach and club: Jan Buron with the Alaska Winter Stars, and Patrick Weaver while at UVM
College: 2012 graduate of the University of Vermont (UVM)
High School: 2008 graduate of South Anchorage High School in Alaska
Birthplace: McCall, ID
Age: 28
Sibling: Scott, adventure-loving-difficult-to-keep-up-with-but-very-patient-mechanical-engineering-Olympic-skier (blog here)
Favorite season: winter
Favorite attire: scarves and hats
Favorite animal: cats, and owls. very much inclusive of big cats, and tiny owls.
Caitlin Patterson 