​Khem Suthiwan

​

Khem is a former high school cheerleader turned college student pulling all-nighters, and now has blossomed into the late bloomer triathlete, skier, rock climber, and SCUBA diver.  She grew up in Wichita, KS and the only endurance sports experience she had growing up was running the 2 mile Wichita River Run as a kid.  Her parents didn’t encourage involvement in sports, so she took it upon herself to pay for her own gymnastics lessons in high school.

 

Khem moved to Colorado after finishing college (GO JAYHAWKS!) and did what most Colorado transplants do…ski and run.  She began running marathons in 2002 to a total of 7 marathons to date and moved over to the triathlon world in 2009.  Since then she has competed in a handful of races including IRONMAN Canada and IRONMAN Lake Tahoe.  It is her lifelong dream to someday make it into the lottery for the IRONMAN World Championships.

 

Khem tries to balance her life working full-time, training for IRONMAN, and as a triathlon coach with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program.  She strives to give back to her community in any way she can and enjoys showing newbie triathletes how much she loves the sport.  Although her parents still don’t understand why she keeps racing, they figure it’s better than the alternative.  Khem is passionate about spreading the KOKUA spirit in everything she does and hopes to inspire others to do the same.