Generosity, tenacity embody skater Kirby

There are some things that Norm Kirby is unwilling to talk about.

Personal achievements and career highlights rank high on that list. In fact, allowing him to feel comfortable enough to discuss his accomplishments is as difficult as getting a suspected felon to admit to wrongdoing.

That's how Kirby goes about his business - modest, humble and a tad bit shy.

His career highlights includes six national records in the Masters Division in speed skating and being featured as one of the faces of the sport on MTV commercials during the mid-1990s.

Since he was a young adult, Kirby has signed autographs and sponsorship deals. He has been featured in catalogs and has modeled clothing. Still, he has remained helpful to the younger generation of skaters.

Linda Wood - a coach and mother of Joshua, who raced in the World Class Men competition over the weekend at Colorado Springs' 7-Eleven Velodrome - recalled the times she saw Kirby take the wheels off his skates to give them to younger children.

Unexpected by someone of Kirby's statute? Yes.

But not surprising by those who know Kirby best.

"If you ask anybody about Norm Kirby, they're always going to have something positive to say about him," said Jordan Nelson, Kirby's roommate and training partner.

Those acts of generosity were not forgotten when he needed others to lend a helping hand.

Between 1994 and 1998, Kirby was atop the competition on the World's Class Men's team. But his career experienced a sudden jolt.

In 1998, Kirby broke his ankle in a skating accident. His insurance plan was unable to cover the full cost for immediate surgery. Wood and other fellow skaters took out a collection to pay for his operation.

It was nearly two years before Kirby was able to skate again.

"The injury was more of a mental thing," he said. "I was physically fit. But, in my head, I wasn't psychologically all there. It's hard to just all of a sudden have it and then not have it, really, in a day - that's what it felt like."

Rather than fixate on what once was, Kirby began working for the local UPS plant. He reports humbly each night to work the graveyard shift on the pre-load dock.

After eight years, Kirby, 41, continues working there at UPS, where his roommate, Nelson, is the manager. Kirby has found a balance between work and his skating career. And he appreciates UPS for being supportive in his pursuits, and allowing him to work on a flexible schedule.

Over the weekend, Kirby demonstrated what his efforts, even after injury, could produce. He set national records Sunday in the 1,500- and 2,000-meter races at the USA Roller Sports Outdoor Speed Skating National Championships.

The records are a remarkable achievement for someone who was removed from competition a decade ago by injury.

Kirby will look to extend his résumé when he takes part in three Masters Division competitions, including the 200-meter time trials, on Tuesday.