About Team Red Lizard
Team Red Lizard (TRL) is a non-profit running club based in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. Members are encouraged to connect with all runners in our community, meeting them with support, encouragement and camaraderie.
While TRL is a running focused club, many of our members enjoy numerous other activities such as mountain climbing, back-country skiing, adventure races, and Ironman competitions, to name a few.
TRL also provides members with opportunities to help others; from working at a local soup kitchen one Saturday each month, to organizing many aspects of the Special Olympics Regional Qualifying meet, and providing runners to lead pace groups for the Portland Marathon. We also collect used shoes for the homeless and for under-privileged kids at local high schools. TRL seeks out opportunities to give back to the community.
TRL is welcoming and encouraging to all our members and guests. This includes conduct, sportsmanship, and respectfulness. If you have a concern or question during one of our events or group runs, please let your event leader know, so they can deal with it.
TRL is managed by a Board of Directors which meets each month (see the Facebook Group or email our secretary for location and time). The meetings are open to everyone. TRL’s Bylaws can be read here.
History
TRL is one of the oldest running clubs in Oregon. Founded in 1992 by local triathlete Kevin Foreman, it was initially associated with a running store in Lake Oswego. When the store closed, Foreman moved on to other endeavors, but the club persevered, diversified, and grew, merging in 1997 with the Rose City Runners.
People often ask where the name came from. It appears to have originated in a post-run conversation in which people started spitballing ideas for a club name at a local pub. The topic turned to colored animals, “Red Lizard” won, and it has been Team Red Lizard ever since.
Currently, TRL’s members are a mix of road, trail, and track runners, and triathletes. We support 5K runners, marathoners, ultramarathoners, and pretty much any other type of runner that exists. Not to mention that many people enjoy more than one of these.
We are an all-comers club, and runners of all abilities and backgrounds are welcome. Workouts have always been open to visitors, in hopes you’ll join the TRL squad, so come check us out!
OFFICERS & DIRECTORS
President
Megan Taylor
Megan is relatively new to TRL—she first found the club at a Stumptown cross-country race in 2021. But she’s not new to running, having been a runner since elementary school. Nor is she new to the world of nonprofit organizations, working as Executive Director and former board president for an organization that helps provide affordable housing by training volunteers to assist underserved communities in home repair. “As a new member of TRL, I experienced the warm community and deep friendships that are the heart of the club,” she says. “I hope to focus our energy on what we do best—creating a welcoming community of people who love to get moving and support each other!”
Vice President
Chelsea Warren
Chelsea has been a passionate runner since age 15. After a challenging pregnancy and a 10-year break from running, she joined TRL in 2016, seeking to regain health and fitness. She now races regularly. “I love how TRL brings people together, supports each other, and welcomes new members,” she says. “I want to help continue that tradition, ensuring our club is a place where everyone feels at home and empowered to reach their goals, whether they’re running a 9-minute mile or a 5-minute mile.”
Secretary
Sophia Bigio
Sophia started coming to TRL events after graduating from college in 2022, where she ran track and cross-country. She’s now “dabbling” in ultra-running (to the extent it’s possible to dabble in multi-hour racing), but also still does road races and cross-country. “I love running with TRL,” she says, “because, regardless of what I’m training for, I feel supported and empowered by those around me. I appreciate the diverse group of runners that make up the TRL community and support each others’ health, wellness, and enjoyment of running.” The goofy helmet in the photo is from one of the stages of the Tour de Goose, which she won in a furious sprint in 2023.
Treasurer
Wendy Terris
Wendy has been a member of TRL since 2007. She’s run three times in the U.S. Olympic Team Marathon Trials (2004, 2008, and 2012), most famously doubling the 2008 Trials (in Boston) and the Boston Marathon, the following day. Not surprisingly, she’d run a number of ultras in the lead-up to 2008, always hitting the podium, and never finishing less than 2nd. More recently, she’s focused on cross-country, running with TRL masters teams in the 40+ and 50+ divisions. In college, she was a hepthlete, though in track meets she filled in at everything from hurdles to horizontal jumps and javelin.
Stumptown Race Director
Steven Short
Steve has been a member of TRL since 2016—long enough to have run more than 600 races. “I’ve been a member of many running clubs throughout that time,” he says, “and TRL is by far the most well-rounded club I’ve been affiliated with.” He is an avid cross-country runner (he is the one jumping over a hay bale on the racing page of this site), and will be leading the task force directing the 2024 race as long-time race director Torrey Lindbo retires.
Membership
Kellie Houser
Kellie ran in high school and college and now finds running serves as an important medium for positive work/life balance in her life. She joined TRL a few years ago, and has been active in a number of roles. “I believe forming the relationships I now have serves as a key driving force to keep me going and striving to be a better runner and a better version of myself,” she says.
Apparel
Michael Haynes
Michael has been a long-standing presence at TRL’s Tuesday’s track workouts. He’s also done the Boston Marathon enough times that some Lizards think of him as “Boston Michael.”
Club Contact Information
5331 South Macadam Ave Ste 258-401
Portland, OR US 97239
Email: [email protected]