Get to know Elkhart XC and track coach Bekah Shenk through cross country bike trek
ELKHART, Ind. — Many athletes set goals that are so challenging and unattainable that they give up. Then you have the elite athletes like Bekah Shenk, the girls cross country and track coach at Elkhart High School, who set goals and does whatever it takes to succeed.
One of the goals Bekah set for herself after college was to bike across the United States before she turned 30. It was a goal in the back of her mind as she started venturing on long-distance bike trips in her 20s. After several major bike trips over the years, she was able to complete an eight-day route around Lake Michigan averaging 135 miles a day. This made her feel that she was ready enough to begin.
So, in June of 2015, she shipped her bike to San Francisco where she started her journey. This was a solo-unsupported bike trip where she took everything she needed in a bag on a seat-post rack weighing not more than 15-20 pounds. She stayed in hotel rooms each night along the way. What she wasn’t able to prepare for training in the relatively flat Midwest were the treacherous mountains she would have to climb in the west. Topping out at 11,312 feet on Monarch Pass in the Continental Divide, it curtailed her goal to reach the east coast in 25 days, but she forged ahead.
“I never thought about stopping,” Bekah said. “But I had to reset my goal. I had to be at a coach’s clinic (USATF Level II) in Raleigh, North Carolina by a certain day. I was disappointed, but one thing that kept me going was hearing from the people who were supporting and tracking me on my trip through my Garmin Live Tracker.”
By the 25th day, she had biked 2544 miles and reached Bedford, Indiana. (This included her longest day of 192 miles and highest six-day average of 134 miles per day). After documenting her location, she rented a car and went to the clinic for eight days. After it was over, she went right back to the exact spot where she left off and started again. It took her six more days, traveling an average of 125 miles a day to complete the trip. In all, she rode 3295 miles in 31 days, ending in Ocean City, Maryland at 11:40 pm.
She was amazed during her trip with how generous people were along the way. “I met some really nice people. You see the news every day, and that causes you to be more fearful, but I was so encouraged by how people treated me,” Bekah said. She noted how at the end of one day in Kansas, she tried to seek a hotel. No rooms were available anywhere, but the hosts at a bed and breakfast allowed her to stay in their house.
Bekah has learned much about herself accomplishing this monumental feat. “It helped me believe in myself more than I did before,” she said. “My perspective and understanding of the part of the country I traveled through was improved and deepened. It’s also allowed me to use my experience as a teaching moment for my teams. When I look at my runners, I really believe in them, because I know how far I’ve come from where I started and see them as also having so much potential from where they are starting as athletes.”
It’s shown in the team’s performance. Her first year coaching cross country 12 years ago, her team finished last in the sectional. Now, for the past six years, the girls have qualified for regionals, and for the past four years have also qualified for semi-state, culminating in a ninth place finish at the 2021 New Haven Semi-State.
Elite athletes like Bekah rely on that adrenaline rush to achieve their “What’s Next.” So, she has participated in two full and four half Ironman Triathlons, and has raced in 20 marathons, including three Boston Marathons. But, her pinnacle will always be grinding it out every day across these expansive United States on her bike averaging 106 miles per day for 31 days. That is a true testament of fortitude and perseverance.
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