You know their names: Picabo Street. Helen Thayer. Stacy Allison. Debbie Armstrong.
These women are just a few of several notable Northwest women who have literally gone to the top and bottom of the world – and places in-between – in achieving worldwide acclaim in their specific athletic endeavors.
OutdoorsNW recognizes the important achievements of these Iconic Women, not only in the history books, but in their contributions to their communities as well.
Jennie Reed, Cyclist
Just 30 years old, Jennie Reed already has an impressive list of awards and accolades to her credit. The Issaquah, Wash. native and University of Washington alumna just returned from Beijing, her second Olympics.
 Reed won her first national title in 1994 at the U.S. Junior National Track Cycling Championships and went on to win numerous track cycling titles, including landing a spot on the 2004 Olympic cycling team and winning a Gold Medal at the 2004 Manchester World Cup.
Reed, who is now living in Long Beach, Calif., started cycling with her sister, Laura, when Laura was preparing for the Junior Nationals. Jennie started entering races herself, and one thing led to another.
“I entered the Junior Nationals in Seattle and won a few titles, and I was hooked,” says Reed. She was invited to join the National Sprint Team at just 18 years old. Competing at a world class level at that age was intimidating.
“The bar was set very high from that start, so I never thought my results were that good,” she says. “Now I really appreciate what I’ve accomplished. I’ve had to go through some tough situations in my career and I’ve been really resilient.”
Reed knows that the idea of competing at a high level can seem out of reach.
“I think it’s important for kids to know that not every Olympic athlete grows up knowing or believing that they can compete at this level,” she says. “I remember when I first started cycling…I was embarrassed because I didn’t think I was good enough.”
Reed says people should avoid limiting themselves. “Once you decide to give it a shot, you have to train like you are going to become the best!” she says.
Her favorite memory of her career so far is walking into the stadium at the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. “Hearing ‘United States of America’ announced in several different languages and walking through the tunnel and hearing all the cheering,” was amazing, says Reed. “I was in awe that I was actually a part of it!”
As she looks back on her career, Reed says, “I don’t think that I could have ever fathomed that I would make two Olympic teams and have a world title and world medals!”
(Note: The results of Reed’s 2008 Olympics races were not available at press time.)
– Jennifer Donahue
Cheryl Marek, Bicyclist, trainer
Cheryl Marek is the pied piper to legions of women in the Seattle area who are training for races and fitness in such disciplines as running, walking, triathlons, and personal training.
 “Women in their 50s didn’t grow up with the confidence that women now have in sports and athletics, says Marek, 52, of Seattle. “So I reinforce that it’s OK to do this now. Women, for example, get up the courage to train in my half marathon group … and then they can’t believe they’re actually doing it!”
Marek is not just your average personal trainer. She’s walked the walk and talked the talk over nearly a quarter century of incorporating fitness as a lifestyle. And, she’s had a several notable competitive endeavors herself as well.
In 1984, she and Estelle Gray set the Women’s Cross-county Tandem record from Santa Monica Pier, Calif. to New York City Hall in 10 days, 22 hours – a record that has never been broken.
She has two second-place finishes in the Race Across AMerica, 1987, 1990, where she was also named RAAM Rookie of the Year in ’87. As a fundraiser for her ’90 race, she set the women’s indoor roller record when she “bicycled” 500.7 miles in a 24-hour period. That feat has never been attempted by another woman.
In 1995, now living in Switzerland, she rode the 500-mile Ride Across Austria with a co-ed team that took place over a 26-hour period in driving rain and snow the entire time.
In-between, Marek has sampled all the usual Northwest cycling endurance rides including numerous STP’s, Cannonballs (Seattle to Spokane in one day) and others. The exercise specialist has also taught spinning classes for 12 years.
Back in Seattle for the past seven years, Marek continues her endurance treks in running.
“I’ve run six marathons in six different countries,” she said, including Barcelona, Portland, Vancouver, B.C., Switzerland (5,000 feet of climbing, ending at 8,000 feet), Stockholm and Berlin, which she ran for her 50th birthday. Next April she plans on running the Paris Marathon.
“Believe it or not, though, the Roller Record was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” recalls Marek. “That was brutal – mentally and physically.”
Marek believes that fitness should be incorporated into your lifestyle, so much so that it would feel odd if you didn’t do it.
“My business logo is ‘Fun, Fit, Forever,’ ” and I believe it is important have fun and enjoy what you are doing,” says Marek. “Be fit and stay fit by making fitness a part of your life – and lifestyle – and then you will do it forever, no matter your age.”
– Carolyn Price
Helene Madison, Olympic Swimmer
Madison Pool at Seattle’s Ingraham High School and the Washington Athletic Club are named after Helene Madison, a Seattle swimming star who was a three-time Olympic Gold medal winner in 1932 and holder of many national and world records in the early 1930s.
 Not bad for a young girl who started swimming lessons through the Seattle Parks Department at Green Lake at age two. She began her competitive endeavors under the tutelage of Ray Daughters at the Moore Hotel pool and the Washington Athletic Club at age 15.
Madison, who was born in 1913, broke 16 world records in various distances in 1930-31, followed by Gold medals the next year in the 100- and 400-meter freestyle and 400-meter relay.
Madison was the first woman to swim the 100-yard freestyle in one minute flat and her numerous U.S. National Championship records lasted many years. In 1932, she held all official freestyle world and national records in the 100 meters, 200 yards, 500 yards and 800 yards.
It was reported that after the Olympics she had given a performance for pay and thus was barred from competing in the 1936 Games. Having lost her amateur status, she worked at a hotdog stand at Green Lake while her former teammates competed in Berlin. After retiring from competitive swimming, Madison embarked on careers as an actress, nightclub singer, nurse, swim instructor and retail clerk.
She was never forgotten, however, as she was named Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in 1931, to the National Swimming Hall of Fame in 1966, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1992 and pictured on a U.S. postage stamp in 1990.
Madison died of cancer in her basement apartment across the street from her beloved Green Lake in 1970.
– Compiled by Carolyn Price
Picabo Street, Alpine Skier
Who can forget the image of a triumphant Picabo Street, gold medal winner at the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998? Brash, bold, and fearless, Street didn’t just ski, she conquered.
Raised in Triumph, Idaho, the newly-engaged Street, 37, now calls Park City, Utah, home. With a list of medals longer than a ski run, including the gold medal in the 1998 Olympics and a silver at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics in 1994, Street was the first American ever to win a World Cup downhill championship (in 1995). She repeated the feat in 1996. Street retired after the 2002 Olympics in Utah, after coming back from a devastating broken leg and knee injury that required two years of rehab.
 At the pinnacle of her career, Street says, she wasn’t focusing so much on specific goals as she was just trying to stay at the top of her sport. Still, the wins were thrilling.
“Every time I stood on a podium no matter how significant the win, I was elated to be representing my country,” she says. “Especially at that time when so many of the European countries had been dominating.”
The experience of being a competitive athlete has made Street who she is today. Looking back, winning the world championships and Olympic medals rank as treasured memories, but Street adds that “my fondest memories consist of making friendships, sharing the podium with teammates and helping my competitors to have fun and achieve their best.”
Life hasn’t slowed down much since retirement. Lately, Street has been busy raising her sons. “I am a proud mom of boys so my main commitment is to their growth and development, and providing them with life experiences that make them amazing people and citizens,” says Street. The busy mom is also passionate about environmental and women’s issues and is involved in a number of children’s organizations.
“I am a children’s advocate and the national spokesperson for the National Children’s Alliance,” she says. “I love motivational speaking, and am both proud and excited to be working on several new projects that you will be hearing about soon.” One of those projects is Street’s exclusive “ski with me” camp and clinic, which she will be personally coaching.
As for the next generation? Street says simply, “Stay true – to you and follow your dreams. Anything is possible, so believe in yourself and don’t give up.”
– Jennifer Donahue
Stacy Allison, Mountaineer
When Stacy Allison recalls the first time she tried rock climbing, she describes it as “a total fluke.” Little did she know that an accidental spring break trip to Zion National Park would turn into a lifelong passion for adventure and physical strength.
 The young woman attending Oregon State University took to rock climbing like a swimmer takes to water, and went on to become the first American woman to summit Mount Everest.
Allison explored popular Northwest climbing destinations, including Central Oregon’s infamous Smith Rocks. It was there Allison first met Shari Kearney, one of the sport’s earliest female pioneers. “I saw her silhouette up on a ridge and I said, ‘I want to be her,’ ” Allison recalls.
The two would meet a few years later on a 1982 expedition to the Himalayas, where they joined a team of eight women who became the world’s first women to summit 22,349-foot tall Ama Dablam. Six years later, she joined the Northwest American Everest Expedition, and on Sept. 29, 1988, after 29 days on the mountain, Stacy became the first American woman to reach the summit.
Three days later, Peggy Luce Gudgell of Seattle, who was part of the support crew on Allison’s expedition, reached the 29,108-foot summit as well.
“Peggy was not a climber, but she was a very strong woman, physically and mentally,” Allison says. “She was not slated to summit, but she had an opportunity and the cards were working for her.”
Allison, a 47-year-old mother of two, now lives in Portland and splits her time between speaking to corporate groups about leadership and teamwork, and running Stacy Allison General Contracting, a construction company focused on high-end home renovations. She recently vacationed with her family to Zion, where a typical day included 65-foot rappels and swims through slot canyons.
Allison says that whether she is speaking to corporate CEOs or her teenaged kids, she gives the same advice: “People need to take risks. In our culture, and in our business world, failure is not tolerated. There is so much pressure to get it right the first time,” she says. “If you fail, it’s okay as long as you learn from that failure.”
– Becky Brun
Helen Thayer, Explorer
Helen Thayer is a trailblazer in every sense of the word. The Snohomish, Wash., resident, a native of New Zealand, has traveled to places most of us only dream of going. And she’s done much of it on foot.
 Thayer, now 70 (“going on 25,” she says), was the first woman to trek solo to the magnetic North Pole. She was 50 years old at the time, accompanied only by her dog, Charlie, who saved her life when he fended off an attacking polar bear.
In 1996 Thayer and her husband, Bill, walked 4,000 miles across the Sahara desert, a journey that took four months. Thayer has also walked across the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, kayaked the Amazon, and lived among wolves in the Canadian Yukon.
Called “One of the Great Explorers of the 20th Century” by the National Geographic Society, Thayer is an acclaimed author, photographer, and motivational speaker.
These days, you’ll find Thayer studying the effects of climate change on native populations in Alaska and Brazil.
“The change in the north is really profound, especially on the coast,” she says. She’s also working on two new books: one is a biography of her dog, Charlie, the other is about her journeys throughout Alaska and the Canadian Yukon.
So what drives a woman to explore the furthest reaches of the globe at an age when many of her contemporaries have embraced retirement?
“It’s all for Adventure Classroom,” says Thayer of her educational web site. “We’re working to bring the four corners of the world into the classroom.” Parents, children, and teachers can visit Thayer’s web site (www.helenthayer.com) and click on the Adventure Classroom link for photos, stories, and information. The site also includes resources for educators.
She’s also written three books, including her most recent, Walking the Gobi: A 1,600-Mile Trek Across a Desert of Hope and Despair.
Looking back on her accomplishments, Thayer says “I’m glad I’ve done it all, because I have discovered that it is valuable to education. It has had an effect.” She is encouraged to keep going by the feedback she’s gotten from parents, teachers, and students. “It lets you know you’re going in the right direction,” she says.
Thayer has spoken to more than one million schoolchildren and countless adults. “I tell the kids, don’t bury your dreams and your goals. You can achieve what might be considered impossible, just because you believe it. If you believe, you can do it, but if you have doubts, you won’t.”
Thayer talks about persistence and the importance of taking on challenges one step at a time, lessons that translate easily to everyday life. “That’s really what life is,” says Thayer, “one step at a time.”
Her favorite memory? “Perhaps arriving at the Pole with Charlie, realizing the journey was over,” says Thayer. “I was alone. I was the only expedition that year. No other humans for hundreds of miles. I never really doubted that I would make it, but it was the process of living that was so challenging.”
– Jennifer Donahue
Debbie Armstrong, Alpine Skier
The way Deb Armstrong looks at it, the Gold Medal she won in the Giant Slalom in Sarajevo’s 1984 Olympics was just one day — albeit the most exciting day — in her life.
 “Winning a gold medal changes your life, especially when the whole planet is watching, “says Armstrong, 44, who grew up in Seattle. “But potentially, it could be depressing that you just had the best day of your life at age 20. Since then, I’ve continued to grow and evolve from the person I was that day 25 years ago.”
A competitive and all-around athlete at Seattle’s Garfield High School, Armstrong and her family headed to Alpental at Snoqualmie Pass most weekends. As a sophomore, her basketball coach encouraged her to give up skiing. “At 5-foot-6, I realized there wasn’t much of a future there and that’s when skiing became the number one sport for me,” recalls Armstrong.
It was a good choice. During her senior year of high school in 1981 Armstrong won the Junior Olympics. The U.S. Ski Team took notice and she was off to the races. She went on to compete in two Olympics, was on the U.S. National Ski Team for eight years and was a three-time world championship participant.
To round out the technical side of her skiing career, Armstrong also became a PSIA-certified ski instructor. To honor her achievements, Alpental named a ski lift after her called “Debbie’s Gold.”
After spending eight years as the Ski Ambassador at Taos, New Mexico, Armstrong moved to Colorado last year when she was named the Alpine Technical Director of Skiing at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. Her job is to teach skiing, but she has taken the opportunity to embrace all aspects of teaching a smorgasbord of life skills to help develop athletes to their full potential.
Since retiring from competitive skiing in 1988, Armstrong has led various humanitarian causes but the one she is most proud of is Global ReLeaf Sarajevo which seeks to reforest Sarajevo since the Bosnian War.
Armstrong looks on “her day” nearly a quarter century ago not so much that she was so much better than other skiers, but humbly says, “that day I was the best. When you have a grouping of people who finish races within 100th of a second, it’s hard to pick a winner. My turn came up that day and it was wonderful timing that my race happened to be the Olympics.
“My advice to a kid who wants to be the best: don’t compare yourself to friends. Be true to yourself and your goals.”
And to this reporter, she adds: “Thanks for helping keep me remembered in Seattle!”
– Carolyn Price
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