Survive: cancer, Ironmans

After slashing a hamstring, getting hit by an 18-wheeler, conquering cancer and giving birth to two children, Karen Smeyers '83 is quite a survivor. On top of all of this, she's also a 46-year-old professional triathlete.

Smeyers has had a remarkable athletic career. She has spent many years journeying across the globe to compete in triathlons, picking up a few elite titles along the way. She has won two World Championships, the Hawaiian Ironman triathalon and placed second in another Ironman.

"For eight years, pretty much all I did was race and travel around the world," Smeyers said. "It was just a great lifestyle ... it was a blast."

An economics major at Princeton, Smeyers was a varsity swimmer and a walk-on for the track team. During the summer after graduation, one of her roommates decided to compete in a triathlon to make money, hoping to earn enough to opt out of a summer job. Smeyers' friend did well and won some prize money, making Smeyers reconsider post-collegiate athletics.

"The minute I got out of college, I just felt lost without athletics," Smeyers said. "I just felt like I really wanted to find some sport to continue on."

Meanwhile, Smeyers had traded in her swimsuit and running shorts for a full-time job at a computer consulting firm in Boston. She lived with her former roommate and other Princeton friends, and they decided to train and compete in a triathlon the next year.

"After I did that, I kind of got hooked," Smeyers said.

She entered in more races that summer and began to realize that she could actually make money if she placed high enough. After spending five years balancing her full-time job with racing, she decided to work part-time for one summer to free up more time for training.

"[That summer] I realized that if I had more time, I could move up a level," Smeyers said. "I was finishing sixth to 10th in those races ... I found that I got a lot better when I had more time to train."

In 1989, her computer consulting firm went bankrupt. Smeyers took advantage of this "stroke of luck" to train full-time, and she quickly climbed to the top of the ranks. She snagged first place in the World Championships the next year and repeated the feat in 1995, the year in which she also won the Ironman in Hawaii.

In 1997, Smeyers' momentum came to a crashing halt when she accidentally slashed her hamstring with a piece of glass from a storm window. The silver lining in this injury, however, revealed itself in the form of a baby daughter.

"[The injury] had me out for four to six months of rehab," Smeyers said. "So that's when my husband and I decided to start a family ... you know, doubling rehab as a maternity leave."

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While biking to get back in shape, Smeyers was hit by an 18-wheeler, setting her training back even further. She built up her strength enough to take second place in the Ironman in 1999, but around the same time, she found out she had thyroid cancer.

Smeyers suffered through a couple of surgeries and treatment and was able to return to racing after her third major setback in two years. Since then, she has had another baby and has competed in many more events.

"I'm probably the oldest professional on the circuit right now," Smeyers said. "I'm 46, and most professionals are in their 20s and 30s. I get a lot of people who come up to me who are racing professionally now and say, 'I'm so glad you're still racing! It means that I can keep doing it.' It's a lifestyle that people grow to love and want to continue as long as they can ... I figure I've got a lot of years ahead of me still."

Smeyers now lives in Lincoln, Mass., with her husband and two children. She still bikes, runs or swims for around 15 to 20 hours a week and competes professionally. She also serves as a personal coach for 10 other amateur triathletes, helps runners train for the Boston Marathon and teaches classes for those who want to improve their cycling.

"I'm taking it year by year, and I'm having fun with it," Smeyers said. "I never exactly [predicted] that that's where my Princeton education would lead me."