In celebration of International Women’s Day, we thought we would take five minutes with our very own everyday superhero. By day, Kerry MacPhee works in the renewable energy sector, but at the weekend she races her Genesis Mantle and in 2019 was the British XC Series champion!

We had to find out more, so we caught up with Kerry after a long day at work, but just before her next training session…


How did you get into riding and racing mountain bikes? 
I was a super sporty kid and grew up in the outer Hebrides where being an athlete just wasn't a thing. 

I was competitive and ran and played basketball and was obsessed with the Gladiators show but as I didn't have anyone around me that went on to become an athlete so I just followed the usual path of going to University and watching incredible athletes from afar thinking it could never be a world I could be part of. 

I was about 24 and studying for an Msc when a friend persuaded me to do a triathlon, prior to which I had no idea of what it even was or consisted of. 

We did an extremely novice event, which I won (there were barely any competitors) but that winning feeling - regardless of how novice the event was - lit the fire again and that was it, I was on a mission to get better and faster! 

I was good enough to race for GB in Cross-Triathlon finishing fourth at the European Champs but I was hopeless at swimming. I really struggled! So because of this, I always had to bike really hard to catch up! 

In 2013 I entered a mountain bike race in Scotland with burly 'tractor' tyres, one bottle and no clue what I was doing. The gun went, all the girls shot off like rockets and I thought holy moly, what on earth is going on here! 

However bit by bit I picked off all but one girl and ended up sandwiched between Scotland's two Commonwealth Games hopefuls at that time. I guess you could say it became apparent there and then that cycling was my sport not triathlon! 


You’ve come a long way since then! What has been your most memorable moment since?
Without a doubt qualifying for Glasgow 2014 was an insane moment considering I'd been in the sport less than a year. But, on the whole, it's not outcomes and gold medals or results that I remember most, it's actually times I've made a start line against the odds. It's been a bumpy ride (excuse the pun) but those days that I win the mental game are the ones I relish most. 

How do you manage to balance a day job, along with racing and training?
It's hard! And I'm very good at going gung-ho and then hitting a wall quite often, haha! I'm in a good working position because I'm a community liaison contractor for a renewable energy company and have a set number of days per-month so don't work full time. 

For two years I commuted to the Isle of Lewis every week for work which was tough but somehow you make it work but this year I'm a little more local and working on an off-shore project. 

If I know I have a stage race coming up, I'll work extra days either side. I have other bits of work I do too, just to help keep me afloat and I'm just very organised with my timings and diary and somehow make it work. 

I also have fantastic sponsors- Loch Duart Salmon who help with some of my costs as we're in an expensive sport and of course bike and kit sponsors too which takes some of the heat off and allows me to concentrate more on my racing and training. I also try and channel a lot of gratitude!


When you’re having a tough day training or racing, who is your inspiration and why?
Because I came into the sport so late, I'm always ridiculously inspired by these 'older' female athletes who are just handing it to people on the XC circuit. 

I love Gunn-Rita Dahle, Catherine Pendrel and Erin Huck. Outside of cycling I'm a huge Lolo Jones fan. She's one of the funniest people I follow on instagram. 

But, to be honest, I'm more inspired by day to day normal people who I know have had massive personal battles and somehow keep toeing the line and fighting. 

My good friend Isla Short is always an inspiration to me (I guess she's not that normal though as she is one hell of a badass on a bike), my Mum has bags of resilience and she just keeps trucking. 

Inversely, when I'm struggling, I also remind myself that so far my own track record of getting through tough times is 100% so yeah, I guess I take inspiration from that too?!

What does international women’s day mean to you?
For me international Women's day is that reminder that we should have each other’s back, we should be lifting each other up and there are heaps of us who have slayed it in life and continue doing so... that's worth celebrating! Go us!

Thanks to Kerry for taking the time out to chat! You can follow her amazing adventures and achievements over on Instagram.
Mar 06 2020
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