Diane Van Deren, Sadalia, Colorado

Diane, a former professional tennis player, is following her love of Ultra Distance Events that test her athletic ability as well as her ability to plan and pace her performance with as much detail as a football player memorizes his playbook. Diane's motivation to run endurance events comes from her having had successful surgery to treat adult-onset epilepsy when medicine ran out of options. Now, seizure free, she "uses her legs as her words" to create awareness for childhood safety and overcoming challenges.

Diane competes in 50 and 100 mile races, including the race known to experts as the world's hardest 100 mile event, called the "Hard Rock 100 Mile." Diane won two of the five 100 mile races in which she competed in 2006.

In February, 2005 Diane ran 260 miles in an Alaska Invitational event only to fall into a moose hole and break her ankle. Her run in 2005 was to benefit the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute at The Children's Hospital of Colorado.

Diane is also an in-demand speaker for schools, organizations and groups including Kiwanis, Parks and Recreation, Physician's Associations, Character Counts, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center for Children with Disabilities. In addition, Diane regularly spends time motivating children at a summer camp for Children with Epilepsy.

Read more about Diane on The North Face website: http://www.thenorthface.com/na/athletes.html

Kami Semick, Bend, Oregon

Kami's love for the outdoors and extreme events became focused as she started ultrarunning in 2003. Prior to ultrarunning, Kami could be found backpacking, hiking and mountaineering around the Pacific NorthWest. After the birth of her daughter in 2002, Kami started searching for adventures that would provide a challenge, but only have her away from the family for a day or two at a time, versus the long week or weeks required by mountaineering.

In 2005, Kami was ranked fourth for Ultra Runners of the Year by UltraRunning magazine. Kami is a member of the Unites States National Team that competes in the 100k World Cup event, and finished 11th in the world in 2006. She is also a National Trail Champion at the 50k distance, an accomplished 100 mile runner, and has several first place wins and course records in distances spanning 50k - 100k.

Read more about Kami on The North Face website: http://www.thenorthface.com/na/athletes.html