I’m a programmer at a mobile games company in San Francisco and I commute there three days a week, working 30 hours a week. This schedule happened to mesh really well with the Belmont Runners’ group runs.
How long have you been running?
I have been running steadily almost 16 years now. Before that, I had run in high school and college, but then had been sedentary for about 10 years, and just couldn’t seem to get back into running. Joining a running club got me over that initial discomfort.
What are your current running goals?
My first goals are to stay happy and healthy! Joining Belmont Runners has been wonderful for those goals. I also have two big races lined up — Quicksilver 100K in May and Tahoe 200 in September.
Tahoe 200 is 205 miles long, circumnavigating Lake Tahoe, and it has 40,000 feet of elevation gain. I’ve done five different hundred mile races, so I know I can run slowly for a long time and deal with sleep deprivation, but this will be a special challenge for sure. Tahoe 200 gives you 4 days and 4 hours (100 hours) to complete it, and some of the aid stations have sleeping accommodations. I have volunteered at the Sierra-at-Tahoe aid station, at mile 62, the last 6 years and it would be wonderful to see friends there or to have a pacer! (Hint hint!)
What is your favorite race?
That’s a tough question! I’ve run about 28 road marathons and about the same number of ultramarathons and plenty of shorter races. The Boston Marathon is special, for sure, for having so many dedicated accomplished runners in the race, and so much love and support from the local population. For natural beauty, the Tahoe Rim Trail races and Miwok 100K are hard to beat, and Sinister 7 in the Canadian Rockies was quite spectacular. For shorter races, the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Run 10K or half-marathon are always fun.
What are some things that you like to do when you’re not running?
Playing video games with my daughter, reading, programming, and writing race reports for my blog.
Where’s your favorite place to run?
Anywhere the Belmont Runners is meeting! For solo runs, I mostly run on the Bay Trail because it’s so convenient and I like getting away from cars.
Do you have a special warm-up or power song when running?
I don’t usually listen to anything while running, so that I can be alert to my surroundings and be more immersed in the “real world”. I once sang a line from David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World in a tight loop in my head, to distract myself during a difficult period of the Avalon 50 mile race.
