Past Races

Erin Donaghy

west lafayette, Indiana

My name is Erin Donaghy, and I currently live in West Lafayette, IN attending Purdue University for my PhD in Geology. About a year ago, I left my cushy oil and gas job in Houston, TX, and decided to pursue my ultimate dream of getting my PhD so that I can work in academia as a professor. I have been competitively running since I was 10 years old, and was part of nationally ranked cross country teams through middle school and high school. When I started college, I fell in love with geology, and decided to drop out of D1 level collegiate racing to pursue my passion of research in Pacific Cordilleran tectonics. Since then, I've always done the delicate dance of balancing my love of competitive sports with my career in geosciences. My career has led me to travel and live in various places all over this beautiful country, and my adventurous spirit has resulted my in trying many disciplines in triathlon, cycling, and running. Currently, my training is focused in cyclocross, gravel racing, and criterium racing. This usually leads to fall and spring schedules jam-packed with multiple races a week! As a field geologist who does their research in the remote backcountry areas of Cascadia and Wrangell-St. Elias, my summers are generally spent galavanting around collecting rocks in the mountains in both Washington and Alaska!

I am passionate about my research, and I am a strong advocate for women navigating careers in STEM fields. I work for many mentoring programs to help guide young women through applying for graduate school or industry jobs / dealing with workplace harassment, and I serve as a member on numerous DEI and Outreach committees. I also suffer from the chronic illnesses endometriosis and adenomyosis, and use my platforms to raise awareness and help women find the resources and treatments they need. I want to be a voice and role model for women everywhere, and to be able to support and lift other women to speak up and fight for their dreams.