Nikki Kimball
Ultra Marathon Champion & Physical Therapist
Nikki Kimball
Occupation: Orthopedic physical therapist, Bozeman, MT. Professional endurance runner at HOKA ONE ONE. Public speaker and endurance coach at Kimball Athletics. Past: Co-creator of The Running Clinic, Lake Placid, New York.
Ultramarathon
Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile 2014 1st female overall and masters winner, earning the highest single race prize purse in trail ultra history. Placed 2nd in 2013. Top ten overall (m/f) both years.
The Coastal Challenge 2015 2nd place. Champion Chimera 100 Mile, 2015.
Marathon des Sables 2014 1st place
Western States 100 Mile, 2nd place 2013, Champion 2004, 2006, 2007. 9 top five finishes at WS 100. Only person in history to place top 10 in first ten attempts at the WS 100.
TNF Challenge Columbia champion 2013.
Ultra Tour Du Mount Blanc Champion 2007, Chamonix, France.
Member of United States 100k Team 2001-2006. Had two top-10 individual finishes at World Cup. Scoring member of the Gold Medal World Cup 100k Team 2005.
Champion (team and individual) 2009 Jungle marathon stage race, Para, Brazil, in new course record.
Ultra Tour Du Mount Blanc Champion 2007, Chamonix, France.
100 Mile National Champion 2008, beat course record by over 3 hours; 3rd overall (male/female), Tahoe Rim Trail 100, Nevada.
50 Mile Trail National Champion 2003, Crystal Mountain, Washington. Broke Ann Trason’s course record by 11 minutes. Also50 Mile Trail National Champion 2004, 2005, and 2006, 2007 breaking own course record three more times.
50 Mile Road National Champion ‘05. 2nd 100k Road National Championships ‘01.
Set course records in over 20 Ultramarathons
Ran sub-7:30 at Comrades Ultramarathon 2010, silver medal
Masters Champion Team Transrockies Stage Race 2010 and 2011
3-time winner of the Montrail Ultra Cup
2012 Fastest Known Time on Vermont’s 273 mile Long Trail.
2013 Ran China’s Tea Horse Trail with teammate Kami Semick and 3 others from Team TNF Asia.
Film Involvement
Star of Finding Traction, 2014 feature documentary and multiple international film festival award winner. The film follows my Fastest Known Time (FKT) run on Vermont’s Long Trail, covering themes of gender equity in sport, limits of human endurance and the role of exercise in surviving major depression. Finding Traction received over 200,000 views in 4 months on YouTube, and is now played on public television stations throughout the world.
Co-star of: Tea and Horse, 2014 short film about a team expedition run in western China in which my team documents the existence of a 1300 year old trade route before the remnants of the trail are lost forever.
10 for 30, 2015 short film about the history of The Bridger Ridge Run: filmed the majority of the trailer used in the Indiegogo campaign which funded the film; featured athlete in the film. The film has just over 30,000 views, combined parts one and two on EpicMT YouTube channel.
Mountain and Trail Running
Member of United States Mountain Running Team 2001-2003.
Mt. Washington Road Race 2003, 2nd place, 1st American.
New England Mountain Running Champion 2001, runner-up 2003.
Set course records in several mountain running competitions.
Bridger Ridge Run,Bozeman, MT: 1st place 2004, course record, first (and only) woman under 4 hours at 3:53, and again in 2009 at 3:43. Placed first again 5 more times through 2015.
Road Running
Set course records in varying distances in Pennsylvania, New York, New England, and England, U.K.
USATF-MT 10 km Road Champion 2007, 2008.
USATF-MT Marathon Champion 2007. Montana Marathon Champion 2008, course record.
Salt Lake City marathon Champion 2010.
Lewis and Clark Marathon Champion (and 3rd overall, male/female) 2011.
New England Marathon Champion 2001, Cape Cod Marathon, MA.
Road marathon wins also include Adirondack Marathon, Schroon, NY; Green Mountain Marathon, Grand Isle, VT; Great Potato Marathon, Boise, ID; Lewis and Clark Marathon, Bozeman, MT (multiple years); Bozeman Marathon (course record 2011)
Ski, Biathlon, Adventure and Snowshoe Racing
U.S. National Champion 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007 runner-up, 2003.
Member of U.S. National Team Member 2003-06, and 07-08.
Ski Mountaineering: 5th American US National Championships 2012; Winner Skin To Win, pro division 2013, runner up 2011 and 2012; 1st female, tie for 2nd overall (male/female) King and Queen of the Ridge, Bridger Bowl, MT 2011, 2012 Winner (overall m/f) and new female course record; Winner Whitefish Whiteout, pro division, 2013.
Champion Coureus des Bois 90k ski race 2009. Broke course record by 2 hours.
Champion West Yellowstone Rendezvous (50k American Ski Marathon Series event), 2006; 2nd 2007.
Champion Sacagawea Classic 30k, Bozeman MT, 2006, 2007. Champion Teton Ridge Classic 2008.
Top 5 finish Craftsbury Marathon, VT 2006, 2007; 2nd Place Lake Placid Loppet 50k 2008.
11th place American Birkebeiner 2007 (distance cut in half secondary to lack of snow)
2007 Montana State Games Champion, Summer Biathlon.
1st place team (Nike/ACG) Moab Adventure Xstream, 2005
1994 15k Biathlon U.S. Olympic Team Trials, 13th place.
1989-93 Williams College Ski Team, Skied to top-20 finishes in Division I NCAA National Championships all four years.
Speaking
Keynote speaker, Camp Team Red White and Blue, 2013, presenting, “Running for My Life: Exercise and Surviving Major Depression.”
Keynote speaker, National Alliance on Mental Health, Helena, MT 2014, “Using Exercise to Live and Thrive with Depression”
Closing speaker, ACSM Northwest annual conference 2015, Bend, OR, “Running: The Role of the Physical Therapist in Injury Prevention and Treatment”
Speaker, Exercise and Science in Ultra-Endurance Sports, annual conference 2015, Squaw Valley, CA, “Depression and Ultramarathon Running,” with John Onate, MD, and Rob Krar.
Speaker and Promoter for The Big Bear Stampede, trail running race aimed at raising awareness about depression, Gardiner, MT, 2015. Spoke and gave pre-race interviews on regional NBC and CBS news and sports reporting.
Speaker and presenter of Finding Traction for Girls on the Run VT, for 3 city tour, October 2015.
Running Community Involvement, Awards and other Achievements
Co-creator of The Running Clinic, a multidisciplinary monthly clinic serving runners and triathletes in the Lake Placid, NY area
With teammates Kami Semick and Mike Wardian, raised over $20,000 for Vukukhanya, a community-based AIDS orphan project in South Africa
Raised thousands of dollars for Girls on the Run VT and SheCan! MT, with my fastest known time expedition across VT, 2012. Continue to raise money for and promote GOTR chapters.
North American Female Ultra Runner of Year 2003, 2004, 2007(Ultrarunning Magazine).
United States Track and Field Ultra Runner of the Year 2004, 2006, 2007
Contributor of the Month, Runner’s World magazine July 2009.
Member of Runner’s World advisory board 2008-present.
Member of USATF Mountain/Ultra/Trail Council 2002-2005; Championship Chair 2005.
Member of the 100k Task Force for USATF, one of 5 athletes nominated by the President of USATF
Member of US Snowshoe Association advisory board 2004-2005.
Two-time winner of the Williams College Alumnae Ski Award.
Published Articles
Runner’s World wrote 13 pieces in the magazine’s Body Shop section between September 2008-present. Each piece explores methods of injury prevention and health concerns specific to runners.
Outdoor Journal spring 2014 “Destination” Shot and edited review of Taj Safari Lodge in Pench National Park, India and “Hip: The Other Core”
Outdoor Journal summer 2015 “Destined to Run”
Ultrarunning Magazine July 2015 “Getting to the Start Line”
Trail Runner Magazine “Slip Sliding Away” December 2011, using ski mountaineering to train for trail running