Karen Nitkin likes to run, hike, bike, camp and swim. She spends as much time as possible on these activities, while juggling a writing career, family life, and doing errands like laundry and going to the grocery store.

Nitkin lives in Maryland, where the relatively mild climate allows her to run and bike year-round. She also spends at least a few weeks each year in New Hampshire, camping and hiking in the White Mountains. She has set a goal of hiking all 48 New Hampshire peaks that are above 4,000 feet. As of the fall of 2010, she is at number 20, following an epic rain-drenched four-peak overnight in the Pemigewasset wilderness over the summer.

One of Nitkin’s great joys is starting off her weekend with an a.m. seven-mile trail run alongside her husband. She has completed two marathons (clocking results ahead of Katie Holmes and Al Gore but behind Oprah). She was recently talked into her first triathlon, the Iron Girl in Columbia, MD, and is now hooked and eager to do more.

Nitkin is a freelance writer and editor. She writes about food, travel and other topics for newspapers and magazines including Baltimore Magazine, the Baltimore Sun and the Maryland Daily Record. She can be reached by e-mail.

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