We are delighted that Karen has joined our BRIT Ambassador family.
Karen is a Paralympic and World Championship Gold medallist, multiple Para-Cycling World Cup medallist and Para-Cycling Road World Championship medallist. Karen is also a Guinness World Record holder for land-speed by arm power and an explorer; she has skied across icecaps, kayaked at extreme latitudes of the planet, and hand-cycled across the world’s biggest mountain ranges and alongside some of the longest rivers.
“With a deep understanding of how trauma, stress and life events can lead to fear, pain and dis-ease, I have a passion for helping others transform, move beyond perceived limitations and consider possibility. Ability is a state of mind not body: through my own journey, I have discovered the incredible power we have within us to change our thoughts, our emotions, and our energy. We can all learn to be our own alchemist, to transform unwanted emotions or experiences into gold, be creators of our reality and in doing so, improve our performance, our wellbeing, and the world around us.
Having been a student, supporting charities as an Ambassador and Patron, and training and competing alongside young athletes, I know that there are vast number of young adults and students who are living with mental health challenges. I commend BRIT for their collaborative approach and their work to unite the Education, Sport and Charity sectors is inspiring. I have known BRIT’s Founder, Phil, for many years now and his vision resonates with me both personally and professionally; I am thrilled to be joining the BRIT Ambassador family to help support and improve young adult mental health and fitness throughout the UK.
I am delighted that BRIT have designed their BRIT 2021 Challenge to be inclusive so that students and staff of all abilities can take part in many different ways; by hand-cycling, cycling, wheelchair pushing, swimming, walking, jogging, running, rowing or paddling (canoeing, kayaking or paddle-boarding). It is rare to see such an inclusive UK-wide event and I hope that this will be an annual BRIT Challenge that is embraced by every UK university and college.
I look forward to encouraging students and staff at the University of Leeds, University of Aberdeen, University of Cumbria, the Open University, Sheffield Hallam University and Abertay University to take on the BRIT 2021 Challenge and complete their 2,021 miles as teams. I also urge my fellow current and retired Olympians, Paralympians and sports personalities to join our BRIT Ambassador family so that we can inspire and encourage students and staff at universities and colleges across the UK who are taking on the BRIT Challenge.”
Karen graduated from the University of Leeds in 1992 with a degree in Chemistry and Geological Science. That same year, when she was 21, Karen sustained spinal cord injuries whilst sea cliff climbing, that resulted in paralysis below the waist.
In 1996, Karen completed her PhD in geology from the University of Aberdeen. That same year she hand-cycled across the Himalaya from Kazakhstan to Pakistan.
Karen completed her Master of Arts in Development Training and diplomas in Performance Coaching and traditional Chinese medicine at the University of Cumbria.
She has also completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Spanish with the Open University and a Master of Arts in Sports Psychology and High Performance Coaching at UNISPORT (Barcelona).
Karen has been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Aberdeen, University of Leeds, University of Cumbria, Sheffield Hallam University and Abertay University, in recognition of her accomplishments and contributions in adventure and sport.
In 2002, Karen was part of a team who spent 10 weeks sea kayaking from Canada to Alaska.
In 2005 (and 2018), Karen hand-cycled through the Indian Himalaya and in 2006, she took part in an expedition which crossed Greenland’s ice cap whilst sitting on skis, using her arms and poles to cover the 372-mile crossing.
Karen has also climbed Mont Blanc, Matterhorn and El Capitan and hand-cycled, skied and kayaked the length of Japan.
In 2009, Karen won bronze in the Para-Cycling World Cup and in 2010, became a member of the British Para-Cycling team.
Karen won two silver medals in the Women’s H2 road race and time trial events at the 2011 Para-Cycling World Cup in Sydney, Australia.
At the 2012 London Summer Paralympic Games, Karen won silver in the Women’s road time trial H1-2. Two days later, Karen took part in the Women’s road race H1-3 competition. After crossing the finish line holding hands with teammate Rachel Morris, both in a time of 1:43:08, Rachel was awarded bronze and Karen awarded 4th place.
In October 2012, Karen competed in her first ITU Paratriathlon World Championships. She won gold in her TRI-1 classification.
Karen took silver at the 2014 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships in South Carolina in the H3 time trial, and then took bronze in the H1 road race. That same year, Karen hand-cycled across the Tibetan Plateau.
In 2016, Karen won gold in the Women’s time trial H1-3 at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Karen was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year’s Honours List for services to sport.
Karen competed for Scotland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia, where she finished 4th.
Karen is a learning & development specialist turned mindset-heartset coach, explorer, athlete, speaker and author. Her purpose is about helping individuals and organisations ‘Find Inner Gold’: turning challenge into opportunity, turning ‘mud’ into ‘gold’. Karen started out as a geologist researching gold in the Bolivian Andes, but the life-changing accident that left her paralysed led her away from being a ‘rock-doctor’ to winning Paralympic gold in the sport of Paralympic hand-cycling in Rio 2016. It was the 79th medal for Britain, and 79 being the elemental number for Gold, led to Karen creating Quest 79.
The Quest 79 project has Karen cycling 7 continents in 9 iconic rides, raising £79K for Spinal Injuries and encouraging many people to step out of their comfort zones and discover passion, purpose, strength and other aspects of their ‘inner gold’.
For more information about Karen and her Quest 79 project, please visit her website.
Karen brings her passion for possibility, performance and post-traumatic growth to her role as an Ambassador, Patron & fundraiser for a range of charitable, not-for-profit organisations and others. These include;
BBraun www.bbraun.co.uk
Bendrigg Trust Patron www.bendrigg.org.uk
The Cornerstone Trust https://thecornerstonetrust.org.uk/
Scottish Orienteering Association www.scottish-orienteering.org
The Adventure Syndicate http://theadventuresyndicate.com/
The Spinal Injuries Association www.spinal.co.uk
3H Helping Hands for Holidays www.3hfund.org.uk