Friends around the world.....

Arnd Hemmersbach
Innsbruck, Austria

Arnd is a very talented German photojournalist who I met in Quebec at the Raid World Championships last September. He took these photos in December of 2006 in his home town of Innsbruck, Austria. This area not only boasts some of the best skiing in Austria, but they also have year round sunshine and very mild summers with temperatures in the 80s.
Arnd is the steriotypical big, strong, stern-looking German man, however he also has a great sense of humour, sensitivity, and charisma not often seen in those men...or any men. :) He is one person I am so happy to have met in my travels around the world. I don't know if I will ever see him face to face again but I thank God that I got the oppotunity to meet and befriend this wonderful man.
Arnd is currently traveling a great deal to take photos and write his magazine. He recently followed the cross country ski world cup and next he will be in the Andalucia area of Spain for a sport fashion shoot. In March he will travel to Japan, Finland and Italy.





Graham Kelly
Glasgow, Scotland

Graham is my Scottish pen pal. We met in September of 2003 just after I tore my ACL at Primal Quest Tahoe. Graham lives in Glasgow, Scotland which he calls "the wee bit hill & glen just to the north …but VERY different from England." He works as a Senior Project Engineer and he has a young daughter named Mirren. He spends most of his time running in the mountains and adventure racing. He will join Team Deliverance for the Wilderness ARC in 2007. He can occasionally be seen wearing a kilt at the Friday night ceilidh--a Scottish term used to describe the act of drinking whisky until you can waltz perfectly in time. This photo of him was taken in the Italian Dolomites during a climbing trip in June 2006.


King Richard
California, USA
King Richard and I met at Primal Quest 2003 when he was supporting my friends of Team Saga. Since then we've had many adventures together including an exciting, interesting, and hectic Coastal Challenge running race we both worked in Costa Rica. Here's a poem he wrote about me...

There once was a racer named Bern,
Who'd race any sport she could learn.
When mountains were near,
She would fall on her rear,
And medics were soon called in turn.

The bike she would ride in a race,
Was streamlined with beauty and grace.
But she'd take a short cut,
Over brush like a nut,
Soon carrying it all over the place.

Her kayak was just a one seater,
With no room to put in a heater.
So when it got cold,
she'd do as was told,
And fill it with beer by the liter.