ALL-STARS

Karen Hornbostel —
A Spirit To Survive
by Michelle Moon Reinhardt

Master’s cyclist Karen Hornbostel may not have ever ridden her bike in the hills of west Austin. Yet she has a deep connection to the city’s most famous athlete, forged by a common experience. Last month, the Lance Armstrong Foundation named Hornbostel its 2003 Spirit of Survivorship Award winner.
Hornbostel has survived 10 years of metastatic breast cancer. She’s endured five rounds of chemotherapy, and continues to fight the cancer that has spread to her neck and chest. All the while, she has trained and competed in national cycling competitions, and helped other cancer survivors reach their own athletic goals.
“I’m still thriving,” says Hornbostel. “If you tell someone you have metastatic disease they think you’re a gonner. But I’m here to say that’s simply not the case.”
In the late 1970s, Hornbostel moved to Colorado to study altitude’s effects on cyclists. After studying cyclists, she became one, racing competitively for nearly 15 years before she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993.
To help her cope with the diagnosis, she continued to train through her chemotherapy treatments, using a combination of weight training and aerobics to keep her energy and emotional balance intact.
The exercise therapy was so successful, just two years after her diagnosis, she was back on the bike, and the following year, she won the U.S. Women’s Master National Criterium Championship for her age group.
Motivated by her success, Hornbostel created the Summit Cancer Exercise Program for breast cancer survivors. The six-month program offers specialized support for cancer survivors who are attempting to start or continue exercise through their disease.
“We try to help them find an activity that works for them,” Hornbostel says. “It may simply be stretching, but we know through our experience with survivors that regular exercise helps them not only physically, but emotionally deal with their disease.”
The Summit program has expanded from one location to seven, and has helped more than 600 survivors in the Denver, Colorado area.
Hornbostel says cancer has undoubtedly changed her life — in some ways, for the better. She says the disease has given her the gift of knowing what she needs to do with her life. “A lot of people don’t find their true calling — what they were put on the planet for — but I have,” she says. “If other survivors see me continuing to exercise and live life, then they find hope and determination for their own lives.”
She hopes that her current chemotherapy treatment is successful enough to allow her to return to Austin for the Ride for the Roses in late October. She might just get to see that view from the west Austin hills after all.