Her only previous athletic pursuits were two years of high school basketball and many years of playing tennis at as high as 4.0 level and occasionally playing doubles with her husband, Bert.
Both of them went to the Pasadena Senior Olympics in 1994, where her relative speed vs. other people in her age group showed up.
[5] Bergen was featured in ESPN Magazine October 1, 2012 issue in an article called "Senior moments.
[11] On February 16, 2020 at the Southwest Region Masters Meet held at the University of Houston, Kathy broke three Indoor World Records in the W80-84 age group.
At the Masters Outdoor Championships in July, she won 4 golds in the W80-84 discus, 100m, 200m and high jump and led off in the W65-69 4x100m relay which broke the American Record by 7 seconds in the time of 1:05.16 sec.
In March 2023 at the USATF Masters Indoor Championship held in Louisville, KY Kathy led off the 4x200m relay which broke the W65-69 American Record.