Suzanne Nottingham is known worldwide as one of the top sport and fitness instructors with more than 25 years of experience in marketing, programming, and education. She has been a Nordic walking instructor since 2001 and is past director of North American Nordic walking education for Leki USA. Her work has been pivotal in launching Nordic walking in North America. In 2006 she created and launched the Walk to Live workshop, which is the Nordic Walk Now instructor training program. To date, she and her team of 26 education leaders have trained more than 450 instructors and community advocates in North America. Her Web site at www.nordicwalknow.com is a portal for instructors and the public. Since 1990, Nottingham has been a spokesperson and continuing education provider for the American Council on Exercise (ACE), and she was on the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. In 2000, she received the fitness industry's highest honor as IDEA's Fitness Instructor of the Year. In her spare time, Suzanne volunteers as an educator for Disabled Sports East Sierra for winter and summer sports, the Wounded Warrior Program, and No Barriers, the United States' premier event for disabled athletic-minded people. But she claims her real job is as a ski instructor at Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort in California, where she has lived since 1980. Nottingham is also the author of Fitness In-Line Skating (Human Kinetics, 1997) and is known as one of the pioneers in the launch and success of in-line skating in the United States. Alexandra Jurasin has been in the health, fitness, and wellness field for over 13 years and is a national lead instructor trainer for Nordic Walk Now, teaching instructors and classes at conferences throughout the United States. Jurasin has designed and managed fitness and wellness programs for more than 50 corporations and police and fire departments throughout California, and she has been a guest speaker at national and international conferences. She has served on the faculty in the health science and kinesiology departments at California State University at Fullerton and Santa Ana College in Southern California and was recently the general manager of the Google G-Fit Fitness Centers. Currently Jurasin is the account executive for Amgen's national fitness and wellness programs for Plus One Health Management, and she is a contributing author to the American College of Sports Medicine text for personal training. Jurasin received a bachelor's degree in exercise physiology from the University of San Francisco and a master's degree in kinesiology from California State University at Fullerton. She holds multiple health and fitness certifications, including recognition as an ACE Academy instructor. Alexandra loves the outdoors. In addition to Nordic walking, she enjoys cycling, hiking, camping, and any new life adventure.
