By Jeanne Sager
LIBERTY — When Tracie Euker flexes a muscle, the world takes notice.
The Liberty Elementary School art teacher just landed her first magazine cover, the front page of Performance Press – and what she hopes is just the first of many.
Euker is a weightlifter.
But this mother of two doesn’t just do biceps curls in her basement at night after the kids are in bed.
Shortly after the birth of her second son Cameron, who is now 4 years old, Euker decided to hit the gym.
“I was really disgusted with myself,” she said. “I didn’t feel good about myself.”
Within a year, Euker had transformed herself into an elite bodybuilder, putting her – at age 40 – atop the rankings of the nation’s Figure competition.
Late last year, she took home the Masters Figure title in the New York State International Natural Body Building Federation’s Figure Championship.
She followed it up at the INBF Amateur Worlds with a fifth-place finish in the Figure Short Class and a second-place finish in Ms. Fit Body.
Together with her use of the Parillo supplements – the company that publishes Performance Press – her wins catapulted her onto the cover of the magazine.
Inside, a seven-page spread covers Euker’s rise to the top of the fitness world and details her daily routine.
The Performance Press feature will be followed shortly by a piece in the Vitamin Shoppe’s magazine, and Euker is looking to schedule a time for a professional photo shoot so she can pursue fitness modeling.
The photo shoot was her prize from WorldPhysique.com, which chose her as Ms. World Physique for December 2008.
At night, while husband Brad puts Cameron and 6-year-old Madden to bed, Tracie heads to the gym.
She’s found solace in the gym – and an outlet.
As a working mother, it’s a sport she can do whenever she wants. There’s no waiting on team members or depending on the weather.
For Euker, that was just right.
“I stunk in gym when I was a kid, I was really bad,” she says with a laugh. “This is something I can do on my own – I don’t have to rely on people, and I don’t have anyone relying on me.
“It’s a time just for me.”
Her story should give other working mothers a bit of inspiration, she says.
“I’m winning at my age – it’s a lot of work to train and raise a family, but I do it,” Euker said. “This maybe gives them a lot of hope.”
To get a look at the story, go to www.parrillo.com/publications/121. pdf.