about
Biography
Champion
triathlete, personal coach and mother of two daughters, Barbara Edelston
Peterson is uniquely qualified to inspire and educate mothers about exercise.
Now forty-eight years old, she has spent her life involved in physical
exercise and competitive sports˜and is dedicated to improving the lives
of women through exercise. Barbara Edelston Peterson lives in Berkeley,
California, with her husband and two school-aged daughters.
Author
Barbara Edelston Peterson is the author of The Bed Rest Survival Guide
(Avon Books, 1998). She is currently developing the new book series, The
Power of Exercise. She writes for Ms. Fitness Magazine, offroad
triathlon.com, xterraplanet.com and for The XTERRA Catalog.
Athlete
and Trainer
In the early 1980s, Peterson pioneered women's mountain bike racing in
the U.S. and co-founded the National Off-Road Bicycle Association (N.O.R.B.A),
which has a base of 50,000 members worldwide. For twenty years, she has
been one of the sport's leading competitors, including recent championship
wins at World Cup and Nationals series.
In the past several years, Peterson has added triathlons to her athletic endeavors, placing first in the XTERRA National and World Championships. XTERRA is the world's premier off-road multisport event that combines open-water swimming with mountain biking and trail running. It is famous for taking place in exotic locations all over the world and for its challenging courses designed for extreme adventure triathletes. It is likened to the famous Ironman triathlon.
Passionate and dynamic, Peterson has an impressive line up of athletic sponsors who endorse only top world class athletes with product and support for training, competition and promotional endeavors. Her sponsors include Patagonia, Clif Bar, Michelin Tires, Speedplay Pedals, XTERRA Gear, GIRO Helmets, TYR Swimsuits, Zeal Optics, Banana Boat Sun Products, and several others. Recently, she has been invited by XTERRA to be their public relations ambassador.
"If
one takes raw energy...packages it with discipline, perseverance, grace
and intellect...you describe Barbara. Add to that the unique ability to
articulate that enthusiasm and you are forever engaged and inspired."
- Rebecca and Bob Russell, President and Vice-President, XTERRA Gear
"Barbara
Peterson personifies the concept of living life to the fullest. To be
around her is to be carried by a wave of energy. She is philosophically
and athletically effusive. I've watched her ignite others in simple conversation,
and as a stellar masters triathlete, she inspires men and women of all
age. If we all had her positive passion the world would certainly be a
better place. Barbara has taught me that being both positive and committed
to whatever a person's passion is will make for a full and wonderful life.
I've often wondered where and how she gets the time and energy to squeeze
so much into 24 hours, and I've finally learned her secret...she just
moves forward with positive energy and big a smile and everything falls
properly into place. Barbara Peterson, quite simply, is a hero!"
- Tom Kiely, President, Team Unlimited, Inc. XTERRA Producer
In the San Francisco Bay Area, Barbara Peterson is a well known as a Fitness Trainer, Personal Coach and local competitor.
Media
Personality
In the last decade, Barbara has been in the spotlight locally and nationally
for her literary and athletic accomplishments. For the launch of her first
book, The Bed Rest Survival Guide (Avon 1998), Bay Area radio (KQED, KCBS,
KRON), television (NBC, ABC, CBS, Bay TV), and local newspapers, covered
her story of medical confinement. She provided inspiration and guidance
to thousands of Americans with her niche book. As a successful triathlete,
she has had several interviews on Bob Babbitt‚s well known radio
talk show, City Sports Competitor. Over the last two decades, she has
been covered by the San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland Tribune and City
Sports Magazine as a mountain bike pioneer, environmental activist and
champion competitor. In February, 2002, she and her identical twin had
a full page spread in The San Francisco Chronicle's Living Section, highlighting
their triumphs as triathletes, mothers, and professionals. Northern California's
acclaimed Claremont Resort and Spa featured Peterson in their summer promotional
magazine. The 2003 premier issue of Ms. Fitness Magazine features Barbara's
success story in a two page article, "It’s Never Too Late."
In Ms. Fitness Summer 2003, Barbara is the featured athlete, celebrating
20 years of mountain biking history as competitive sport and lifestyle.
A brand new internet magazine, www.offroadtriathlon.com, featured a similar
story in their premier 2003 edition. The brand new More Magazine featured
Barbara and her identical twin sister in the April 2004 issue. Feature
appeances can also be found on xterraplanet.com where Barbara's "Champion
Training Diary" resides in addition to a monthly "Sports Philosophy"
column. Her champion story has been recently "borrowed" from
the Xterra website by acclaimed sports journalist Scott Schumaker to be
published in the popular Inside Triathlon Magazine this spring.
"Ms.
Peterson writes from the heart and provides readers with pure inspiration
as well as practical information to take off and achieve their own fitness
goals. Her well crafted message of passion for sport and life, along with
her enthusiasm and humor, fortify and motivate women at all levels of
physical fitness."
- Fitness Magazine
Corporate
Marketing Consultant
Peterson has a 25-year career in public relations and marketing. Within
the last fifteen years, she led marketing and public relations campaigns
for companies such as Microsoft, Lotus, Toshiba, Adobe, Symantec, Novell
and WordPerfect. She developed women specific marketing programs for PowerBar,
Inc. and "www.women.com," an AOL subsidiary. Earlier in her
career, as Director of Operations and Marketing of an independent film
company, she helped produce for The Method, a full length feature film
receiving awards at the Cannes Film Festival, Tokyo Film Festival and
San Francisco Film Festival in 1987.
Currently, in addition to writing, she does freelance marketing and corporate identity development for select Bay Area companies.
"I've
known and admired Barbara Edelston Peterson for nearly 20 years. She is
a unique person who has been able to beautifully balance her career, individual,
and family lives. Her strength of character and deep humanitarian values
are positive attributes in her professional attitude and success. At 800-Software,
her motivation, creativity, and enthusiasm made both the Marketing Department,
and the Company, incredibly successful during our difficult start-up and
rapid-growth phases."
- Steven D. Brown, President, 800-Software, a Subsidiary of Digital
Equipment Corporation
"After
twenty years of working, playing and dreaming with this woman, I am still
amazed every day by her physical and creative energy, her dynamic personality
and her dazzling achievements. In business, in art, in athletics; as a
committed mother, as a loyal friend, as a dedicated professional, she
organizes and leads, while everyone happily follows."
- Joseph Destein, President, Pacific Star Productions, Director and
Producer of The Method.