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Where are they now: Eagle Valley alumna won a state typing title, ran with fellow former Devils at Nationals and kayaked to La Tabatiere

Former Eagle Valley High School runner Renee White has been exploring the St. Lawrence seaway by kayak with her husband Alain. The couple's goal is to reach Blanc-Sablon, the easternmost town in Quebec.
Renee White/Courtesy photo

Renee White has learned to navigate life’s whitecaps. Some figurative, others literal. Some self-imposed — others surging from the seas themselves. Through every journey, there’s been an anchor: faith.

“There’s always a reliance on God,” she said.

White, whose athletic claim to fame as a born-and-raised Gypsum girl was winning two state typing championships and competing at the NAIA national cross-country meet in 1993, currently lives in Piedmont, a tiny ski town north of Montreal famous for being the home of Jackrabbit Johansen. She and her husband entered early retirement during COVID (more on that below). For the last three years, they’ve incrementally explored 1,400 kilometers of the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City to La Tabatiere, a settlement reachable only by boat or plane.



“This has been one of the most exciting things I’ve done,” White said.

Renee White stops for a photo along a remote shoreline somewhere in Quebec.
Renee White/Courtesy photo

Early days in Eagle County

Lisa Isom befriended White in third grade. The two, along with Nicole McPherson, rode their bikes everywhere. They spent days jumping on White’s trampoline or off bridges into Gypsum Creek when the water was high. 

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“Our parents didn’t know where we were, we weren’t wearing helmets. It was that kind of childhood like you’d see on ‘Stranger Things’ or something,” Isom said with a chuckle.

Isom — who enjoyed a professional endurance sports career and still lives in the area — warmly reminisced about her competitive relationship with White, too. If they weren’t arm wrestling, they were throwing Skittles into each other’s mouths and seeing who could catch the most without missing.

“Everything we did was a competition,” Isom said. 

Isom described White as “fearless,” “strong,” and “ridiculously smart.” 

“She was a math and science whiz — still is,” she continued. 

White and McPherson both ran cross-country for the Devils while Isom — then Lisa Dykk — played volleyball, the sport that eventually earned her a college scholarship. All three played basketball and ran track. Isom did jumps and hurdles while McPherson and White ran middle distance and distance events; they came together for various relays. 

“She was the best 800 runner on our team for sure and one of the best in the league,” Isom said of White, who held the 880-yard school record after testing out the event for the first time in middle school. A middle school coach convinced her to try the two-lap event. She won her first race. 

“I was like, that was kind of cool,” White recalled. “So, I just carried on with that and it made for a lot of fun in high school. I was not that great, but for the valley and at the time, it worked.”

Isom wound up at Hastings College while McPherson and White competed at Oklahoma Christian University. On Nov. 20, 1993, all three competed at the NAIA National Cross-Country Championships in Kenosha, Wisconsin. At the indoor track national meet in Kansas City later that year, Dykk and White ran into each other in the hotel before lining up for the same leg of the distance medley relay. 

“I could not believe it,” White recalled.

“It was like the old high school days — we were all back on the track together,” Isom added. “It was completely random. You could never dream of running into teammates from tiny schools all over the country at indoor track in Kansas City, but that’s how it worked.” 

White’s fastest time, 2 minutes, 20.88 seconds, came in her final race. The only woman in the school’s engineering program, she graduated as an academic All-American. 

“That’s what I was most proud of,” White said.

“It’s the craziest thing because I don’t really like to run, but I liked who I was with and it helped pay a little bit for college. … I’ve found in life that the more I exercise, the more I could study.”

As for the typing? 

“It was so funny,” White said. 

Her parents owned a land-surveying business, White Surveying. Before computers, statements were typed and thus, White’s mom always had a typewriter around.

“And for some reason, I just loved it,” White said. “Dorky, I know. But I guess it’s like kids and video games — I just loved to type.”

Janice Starr was her high school typing teacher. 

“I could type fast but she was amazing because she was even faster and could type on a manual,” White said. “It was fun for both of us. And she said, ‘Renee, you know there’s typing contests?'”

The intrigued junior showed up early to school one morning and took the test, which consisted of typing a paragraph and completing tabular math calculations. Contestants were scored on speed and accuracy. Starr proctored the tests and submitted the results. White won the state title twice — and finished second in the nation one of the years. Her prize was a new typewriter and $500. 

The typewriter — which came from the typing store in Glenwood Springs, a place White affectionately recalled having a large, whistling parrot perched outside the storefront — was given to her aunt, who was into medical transcriptions. 

“When she won that typing competition, I wasn’t surprised, but I was a little bit jealous,” Isom said. “I was like, ‘how does she do all this stuff?’ She was just remarkable. And then she turns around and she was just one of the kindest, most sincere people you’d ever meet. You couldn’t help but love her, even if she was kicking your butt.” 

Over the years, Starr would send Vail Daily “Time Machine” stories to White, reminding the pair of their keyboard glory days. 

“It’s at least kept us connected,” White said. “It’s pretty neat you do stuff like this.”

After graduating from Eagle Valley and Oklahoma Baptist, White chased jobs from Missouri to Glenwood Springs, back to Oklahoma City, and then to Monument, where she eventually met her current husband, who was posted from the Canadian Army to NORAD in Colorado Springs. When he was later posted to Wainright, Alberta, the family moved to Canada.

“It was so neat because it was just like us growing up in Eagle back in the day — a safe little town where everybody knew everybody,” White said. “I was so happy that that’s what (my kids’) reality was.” 

The pandemic, however, brought stormy seas to the family’s pristine situation.

Canada, COVID and coming home

Renee White and her husband, Alain, take a photo during their sea kayak adventure along the St. Lawrence seaway last summer.
Renee White/Courtesy photo

White redeemed her mechanical engineering degree by finding a position with Defense Construction Canada on base. When Canada initiated a mandatory vaccine policy for federal employees, the couple was hesitant.

“It was kind of like a big gamble: are we just going to see if that shot’s OK? It just didn’t seem right when they were mandating it,” said White. Her husband had finished his 20 years with the army, but was planning on working a couple more years to help the daughters finish school. 

“We had to make this call like one month after he qualified for his pension,” White said. “So, we retired early. And it was just kind of weird. It wasn’t really on our terms. We sold everything, lost our home … it’s kind of not a ‘poor me story’ — it just got us to retirement quicker.” 

It did something else, too.

“It completely split up our family,” White added.

White’s son was at university in Edmonton, more than two hours away while her middle daughter, a senior, wanted to finish her high school where she started. The youngest was halfway through her junior year. She moved east with White and her husband and plugged into an English school in Quebec while the middle daughter moved in with a best friend in Wainwright. 

“The girls grew up quick and have been on their own earlier than most kids do,” White said. “And that’s their story and they’re doing great.”

Until her visit to Eagle County this past winter, it had been 11 years since she’d last come home. 

“I’m overwhelmed by how it’s changed,” she said. “It’s really hard to process but I’m embracing it. …You don’t ever go back to a place (as) the same person (as when) you left.”

She said she is still friends with Isom, who married her middle school sweetheart, Innes. 

“You always stay friends with people, but your lives go separate ways,” said White. 

Isom said without the advent of social media, she lost touch with most of her high school teammates during college. Of course, there was the NAIA reunion, but beyond that, it’s been difficult to stay connected. During the pandemic, however, Isom — then living in Yangon, Myanmar — was scrolling through her Facebook feed and decided to give White, who was also online, a call. They chatted for more than 90 minutes. 

“It was just like we were back in high school,” Isom said. “She was the same person and I’m the same person.”

Out to sea

White and her husband eat strict portions of dehydrated food each day. With only enough room for two days worth of fresh water in the kayak, finding campsites with fresh water is part of the adventure.
Renee White/Courtesy photo

White’s husband has always been a bike, ski and water adventurer, so the decision to explore the St. Lawrence River was natural for him. But White had never been in a kayak. 

“This has been one of the most exciting things I’ve done,” she admitted. 

While she’s partaken in ice climbing, rafting and biking in Colorado, White said the kayak trip has been “the most adventurous, hardest and rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life.” 

“It’s truly my big accomplishment,” she said. 

The pair set out from the southeast tip of the Ile d’Orleans, traversed to the north shore of the river and went out to sea. Only able to carry 20 days of food in their kayak, they’ve set up camp along the way, navigating the tide swings, cold weather and horrendous winds. Last year they made it to where the road ends in Kegashka, over 1,000 kilometers from the start. The fifth leg, which they did in May, had a whole new feel of remoteness, White said. They made it all the way to La Tabatiere, a fishing village accessible only by boat or plane. The goal is Blanc-Sablon, the easternmost town in the province.

In the open water, White said the faith that has guided every turn in her unique journey takes on a more visceral feeling. It also brings to life to the overarching takeaway sports — whether running, yes, typewriting, or kayaking — has provided.

“You can feel really alone and really afraid when the winds get strong and the waves get big,” she said.

“I think sports have really shown me God’s creation. I was the sports kid who had to go to church. Now I view myself as the Christian who gets to do sports. That defines my life.”

White enjoys a beautiful sunset during her expedition.
Renee White/Courtesy photo

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