1. How long have you been running and why did you start running? I enjoyed sprinting in middle school, and started distance running when I joined the cross-country team my sophomore year of high school, when a coach told me it was a great way to “stay in shape for basketball season.” I had never run longer than one mile before, but I ended up quitting basketball the next year and kept running.
2. How long have you been part of TRL, and what drew you to the club in the first place? I think I joined sometime around the middle of 2007? My college teammates had spread out a bit geographically, and I had run some races with a Corvallis-based club that my brother coached briefly, but I was looking for a more local group. TRL had a presence at many of the races I ran, and had a very active online message board that offered a nice distraction from the morass of grad school.
3. What do you do when you’re not running (job, family, school…whatever it is you’d use to introduce yourself outside of running)? At some point I got really into coffee; currently I work at two local coffee shops as a barista, and also in a roastery once a week. Sometimes I do latte art competitions.
4. What’s your favorite distance/type of run (5K, half-marathon, marathon, ultras, relays, track, trail, etc.)? I don’t think I have a favorite distance… In recent years I’ve been ping-ponging between trails, roads, track, and cross country, and I really enjoy the variety. Usually, I try to break it into seasons. Sometimes my training just ends up being a mess, but it’s fun.
5. Where is your favorite place to run in the greater Portland area? After living on the east side for a number of years I’ve become very fond of Mount Tabor.
6. What’s your most memorable running experience (or experiences)? There are so many! One time a few of us decided to circumnavigate Mount Jefferson. I don’t think any of us had GPS at that point, and it involved a fair amount of snow and bushwhacking. We had so many delays that the sun set, and everyone forgot to bring a light, so we ended up huddling by a fire all night waiting for dawn. Another time, I won a year’s worth of cereal for running a marathon. Once on a run I pulled a lady out of a canal. The list goes on and on…
7. What’s the best running advice you’ve ever received? Get some rest, eat some food
8. Tell us one fun fact, hidden talent, or something we don’t know about you, but should? A couple years ago I got really good at identifying countries by their map outlines. I’m probably a little rusty now.