Kristi Devert spent most of her life playing soccer. She started playing as a young girl and found that energy, athleticism, and dedication to hard work proved to be the right combination for her to make it to the highest levels of the sport. She played competitive soccer throughout her school years in Petaluma, CA, and began attending camps at the United States Olympic Training Center at the age of 15 as part of the under-16s and under-20s US Women’s National Soccer Teams.
She attended Pepperdine University and obtained a degree in Kinesiology on a full scholarship. Kristi was the captain of her soccer team in college and was a standout as a midfielder. This position requires constant running and Kristi’s exceptionally high level of fitness helped her to excel on the field. Following graduation from college, Kristi was recruited to the US Women’s National Soccer Team, where she played for a year.
These days, Kristi runs her own coaching business, SOAR Fitness Solutions. Kristi works with a variety of young athletes in her business. She helps baseball, soccer, and volleyball players improve their skill and fitness levels. As a mother of four young athletes, she knows a lot about kids and sports. She enjoys working with young athletes and helping them achieve their potential. Now Kristi is parlaying her love of running and her love of sports into helping humankind and supporting her friend who is battling pancreatic cancer. Kristi is currently training to run the OC Marathon in honor of pancreatic cancer fighter Rick Carone.
While Kristi was working for Under Armour athletic clothing, fate drew her to the world of pancreatic cancer. She was scrolling through Instagram one day and saw Under Armour hunt athlete Cam Hanes had posted a photo of the same orange running shoes that she always wore. Kristi took a photo of her shoes and tagged Cam in the picture. Soon, Cam and Kristi became friends. It was through Cam that Kristi became friends with pancreatic cancer survivor and fighter, Rick Carone. Cam and Rick have worked together on a number of outdoor hunting television shows, including their current project, Sheep Shape. Rick is a former professional baseball player who transitioned into the world of professional hunting. He has worked on a number of hunting television shows over the years. He has also engaged in a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Kristi recalls, “I met Cam Hanes through Under Armour and he opened some doors for me in my career. I wanted to pay it forward. I wanted to donate my first paycheck to whatever charity he wanted and Cam insisted that I did not need to do that. That is when I saw he had posted an article about Rick written by Tyson Hale (Rick’s Brother-in-law). I realized I wanted to reach out to Rick and support him as my pay it forward.”
Kristi, Cam Hanes & Rick Carone
(Read more about Rick’s inspiring story here: http://www.run4projectpurple.org/pancreatic-cancer-fighter-rick-carone/)
Upon meeting Rick and hearing about his inspirational battle against stage IV pancreatic cancer, Kristi knew she wanted to become involved in the fight against cancer. She quickly began helping Rick’s Team Carone Foundation which provides funding for a variety of cancer-battling causes. She helped organize celebrity batting practices with Rick Carone and current members of professional baseball teams. Kristi also helps find sponsors for events. In addition to maintaining her training business, Kristi now works with Rick as he fights to “Shut Down Cancer”.
Rick’s bravery in his battle against stage IV pancreatic cancer has been a constant source of inspiration to Kristi. She met him at a time when she was experiencing some difficulty in her personal life. His positive attitude and generous and giving nature inspired Kristi to look outside of herself to see what she could do to make the world around her a better place. Whenever Kristi finds herself struggling with something in her personal life, she thinks about Rick and she realizes that most of the things she worries about are insignificant. His battle gives her a sense of perspective that she appreciates.
Rick has inspired Kristi to use her love of running to fight back against pancreatic cancer.She ran track and field as a young girl, but the majority of her time running was up and down the soccer field. As she started her family and her career after soccer, however, she found that running simply for the sake of running gave her a sense of peace, mental-clarity and well-being. With a job and four very active children, it is often hard for Kristi to find time to exercise. However, she finds flexibility to be the key to her running success. She often runs early in the morning before the day starts. If she has time, she will squeeze in a run when her kids are at school. If neither of those options work, she will run late at night before going to bed. A single mom and solitary runner, Kristi knows that she feels better when she makes time to take care of herself.
Rick Carone also introduced Kristi to Project Purple. She decided that she would sign up for the charity’s new OC Marathon team, which is not far from where she lives. Rick has impacted her life in so many positive ways that Kristi is on a mission to do what she can to help wage war against pancreatic cancer. She knows that the statistics for PC are not good, but she sees her friend and inspiration as he beats the odds every day. Kristi has set the bar high for herself and hopes to raise $20,000 for Project Purple.
Please help Kristi as she runs in support of Rick Carone and Project Purple. Make a tax-deductible donation at the following link:
https://www.crowdrise.com/projectpurple4/fundraiser/kristidevert
