Lowell Olympian Kate Brim is On a Roll

Originally published in the Lowell Ledger 4/19/23

WARNING: Trying to keep up with Kate Brim can lead to amazement, jet lag, fatigue, wonderment, and the overuse of the word “Wow.”. For those of you new to her story, Kate has taken her love of para-cycling from the streets of Lowell to the mountains of Colorado, the desert around Phoenix, AZ and across the ocean to Maniago, Italy where she just blew by the competition in three days of road racing and time trials there. Did we mention her appearance in the Corewell Health Super Bowl ad “Can We”? Did you know she has been named an Ambassador for Team Novo Nordisk? If that were not enough, she took time to go to Las Vegas for some national competition with the Grand Rapids Thunder rugby team.

How about we slow down a bit and dive a little deeper into the last few months of our favorite Olympian. To say Kate was over the moon excited when she was accepted as a member of Team USA would be selling her reaction short. The timing of finally getting her new racing bike that was specifically made for her was fortuitous indeed. New training location on a brand new bike. (She won both national and international races and qualified for Team USA on a borrowed bike that really did not fit her body. Can you imagine Usain Bolt competing in some borrowed shoes?) The last quarter of 2022 found Kate training “at altitude” in Colorado on her new, custom built bike.

Kate on her new bike outside Phoenix, AZ

When we asked Kate how much of a difference the new bike made, she shot us back a screen shot of her winning time in a 17 mile road race in Maniago, Italy on Saturday April 22nd. (Love the internet, right?)  The numbers showed her taking first by a crazy wide margin. “That big of a difference,” Kate replied. “Beat second by 16 minutes.” The gap between Kate and her nearest competitors is a consistent trend, she won the time trial event last Thursday by just over six and a half minutes.

“Endurance is my jam,” Kate responded when we asked her how in the heck she was dominating her races and posting these wide margins of victory.

Brim gives a lot of credit to training in the hills and mountains surrounding her new digs at Team USA with building her endurance even further. All of this road racing is leading up for her to participate in the World Championship races that will be held in Glasgow, Scotland later this summer. (Hmm, wonder if the Ledger has it in the budget to fly yours truly over there for in-person coverage?)  

Getting a new custom built bike and becoming a member of our Olympic team would be enough for most people, but that kind of thing is just a warm up for Brim. Before she focused on para-cycling, Kate satisfied her love of sport and competition by being a member of the Grand Rapids Thunder, a wheel chair rugby team. Kate traveled to Las Vegas earlier this month to participate with them in six games in a national tournament. We guess her idea of a relaxing break from powering her bike up and down the mountain roads is to spend a few days immersed in the rough and tumble action of rugby. 

Grand Rapids Thunder in Vegas.

Working backwards to February, Kate became a desert rat when she traveled to Phoenix, AZ to be involved in the Valley of the Sun para-cycling races that took place there. Sharp eyed watchers of a little football game that same month might have noticed Kate being featured in the Corewell Health “Can We” ad that ran during the Super Bowl. If you missed it, sources tell us that the ad runs on TV8 on a regular basis.

Another amazing Kate Brim fact is that she does everything she does while managing diabetes. She was diagnosed with Type 1 a little over a year ago. Novo Nordisk is a global pharmaceutical corporation. One of the products they manufacture is the insulin Kate and other diabetics depend upon. Novo Nordisk has recently named Brim as one of their ambassadors. Stay tuned for more details about this development.

When we traded messages with Kate while she was still in Italy, we asked her what her favorite thing about the last few months of her life has been. The second part of her answer will resonate with all the readers who are a bit tired of gray skies. “The amazing riding Colorado has to offer! Being at altitude has strengthened me so much,” Kate related. “The endless amount of sunshine. We get snow but it’s gone by the end of the day because of how sunny it is here!” 

That response was Classic Kate Brim. Most competitors would have gone on about the thrill of winning races minutes ahead of the next racer as opposed to winning by seconds or portions of seconds. Most of us would brag about appearing in a commercial that aired to the vast majority of the American population. Our question opened the door wide for Kate to brag on Kate. That is not how Brim rolls. Instead she was rejoicing in the physical challenge of training where the air is thin and bragging about how the sunshine is plentiful there.

Post race Kate Brim in Italy.

Kate’s humility is not lost on her family and friends. When we spoke to Melanie Brim, Kate’s mom, she spoke about how in spite of being a determined athlete competing on an international level, it is NOT “all about the winning” for her hard charging daughter. Her parents are proud, pleased and a bit overwhelmed at the developments over the past few months.

“I am actually at a loss for words,” Melanie said. “To say we are proud of her is an understatement for sure. For me the best thing has been watching her come into her own. Winning is great, but upon reflection the best thing is how she is managing her life as a professional athlete. That makes us so very proud.”

If Kate Brim keeps up with her current pace, this reporter might quit his full-time job and apply for a position as her Personal Assistant and Publicist. We can hardly wait to see what comes next for the unstoppable Kate Brim. She has races coming up in Belgium in May. If you want to follow Kate Brim around the world from the safety of your screen, then look for her on Facebook and get ready for a great ride. www.facebook.com/katie.brim.7