Bio

photo by Dan Campbell

The reigning three time World 24 hr Champion knows a thing or two about pain. Drawing from a background in adventure racing, Rebecca has a deep well of skills: paddling, rock climbing, biking, navigating, skiing, and more. Since turning to pro mountain biking in 2001, Rebecca Rusch has proven to the world she has what it takes to execute any of the above even after going beyond her limits in far flung places like Kyrgyzstan and Tibet. After winning adventure races became routine, she added 24 Hour Solo Mountain Bike racing to her résumé and proceeded to dominate the sport.

Rusch moved to California from the stark plains of Illinois after college to pursue rock climbing. She soon racked up ascents of big walls from Yosemite to Zion. Paddling was next as she rose through local competitive ranks to race with the world-famous Offshore Canoe Club’s women’s outrigger team in the brutal Molokai crossing. Adventure Racing was the next challenge. The first race she entered was a qualifier for the Australian Eco-challenge. “We ended up winning the race. The rest is history!”

So what do you do if you win the first major race you’ve ever entered? Quit your job, move into your Ford Bronco, and set your sights on becoming the best.  After several years on the road, she landed in Ketchum, Idaho which is currently her home base. In the nine years since that first adventure race, Rusch became one of the strongest female captains in the sport and garnered an incredibly deep résumé.

It’s still hard to suppress a grin when people ask me what I do for a living, and I reply: “I am a professional athlete.”

In 2006, Rebecca successfully turned her talents toward endurance solo mountain bike races while continuing to compete in the toughest adventure races. In 2006, she won the Solo Mountain Biking Nationals, and took second in Worlds. 2007 was a banner season for Rebecca and she started her climb to the top of the sport. Winning the 2007, 2008, and 2009 World Solo 24hr Championships cemented her into the history books, as well as putting her on top of the podium next the cycling great Lance Armstrong at the grueling Leadville 100. With no end in sight, Rebecca will continue to push herself and others in endurance racing to be the best.