Name: Natalie Florence
Sport: Running (and some cycling)
Hometown: Santa Fe, NM
Age Group: 35 to 39
Number of years competing: 20
B.E.S.T. Coach: Ryan Bolton
Recent Career Highlights:
- Ran an impressive 2:42:46 at the 2018 Chicago Marathon which qualified her for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Natalie grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and started running track and cross country in high-school because her basketball coach, who was the track coach, noticed she really good at the parts of basketball which didn’t’ include the ball. She won the first XC meet she competed in, which was a lot better than sitting on the bench for 4-straight quarters, 6 years in a row, so she switched to running. She went on to win 4 state championships in Atlanta, some in XC and some in track. FUN FACT: She trained 70 miles a week in high school (she only runs about 45 now) all on the same ¾ mile loop in the woods near her school.
Post high school Natalie was recruited to run in college, where she got a small scholarship to run at the University of Colorado. Because of her performances while at CU, she ended up on a full 7ride scholarship by the time she graduated. Some of the highlights of her college racing were winning XC Conference in 2003, winning the Steeplechase at conference and regionals a few times and receiving All-American honors three times. She was also a scoring member of the 2004 XC National Championship team. During that same period Natalie placed 5th in the steeplechase and 9th in the 5k at USATF Championships.