Runner of the Week – Page 2 – Carrboro Run Club

Category: Runner of the Week (page 2 of 5)

Logan Treat

Where are you from? I spent the first 10 years of my life near West Point, NY. Then my family moved to West MI where they say “if you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much.” I’m not Dutch…

How long have you lived in the area and why did you move here? A year and a half. My wife, Sara, is one of the many (though in my book, the most extraordinary) UNC Medical School students at Pub Run. We moved here for med school.

What are three words your friends would use to describe you? Committed, Critical, and Considerate (alliteration for the win).

Why do you run? To get rid of my nervous energy and to delay heart disease.

Why did you decide to join the Station Pub Run? Can you say “beer?!”

What is your favorite thing about the Station Pub Run? Having other people to run with! It’s SO much better running with other people than by yourself.

Describe the most recent (appropriate 🙂 ) photo you took with your phone: A puzzle my wife and I completed last week. It has lots of birds on it. I like birds.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received, and who gave it to you? Søren Kierkegaard advocated for the teleological suspension of the ethical. Ask me about it sometime if you’re interested in having a good philosophical conversation. If not, that’s okay too.

Favorite book? How about a book you think everyone must read? (They can be different.) Either “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky or “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck.

What is your most primary mode of transportation currently? (I like to think all the Pub Runners are smart commuters.) Every morning I bike a mile to the bus stop and take the bus to work.

If you could have any talent or skill in the entire world, without needing to practice and money was no limitation, what would it be? To be a really talented jazz musician.

If you could eat only one meal (not just a single food) for the rest of your life, what would it be? I really love breakfast food, so it would probably be big breakfast feast!: eggs, potatoes, bacon, sourdough toast, good coffee, etc.

What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten? Brain. It was gross.

Do you collect anything? No. My hate of clutter precludes collecting things.

Tell us something about yourself that not many people know: I often wish I was a dog. It seems like it would be altogether better than being a human, somehow. Someone brings you food, takes you for walks, and scratches your head. What more could a person-become-dog want?

What is something you have done recently, or are about to do, that you are proud of? I am (hopefully!) about to publish a research paper in bacterial genetics. It will be my first peer-reviewed publication and is the culmination of over a year’s worth of lab work!

Please share your favorite quote or slogan: Most recently it’s “Stand for something or fall for anything” attributed to Malcolm X.

Angela Fruik

June 11, 2019 / Steph Bryant / Comments Off

Where are you from? I grew up in a small town outside of Frederick, MD. My high school was surrounded on all four sides by corn fields!

How long have you lived in the area? I moved to Carrboro in summer of 2016 to go to UNC for grad school, and then my husband and I decided to put down roots! We both love it here and have no plans to leave any time soon, even though that was our original plan!

What are three words your friends would use to describe you? Dedicated, energetic, and organized.

Why do you run? It started out as just another form of exercise. Now, it’s a combination of so many things: something I love, a social outlet, cheap therapy/stress relief, a way to push myself out of my comfort zone and try new things, an excuse to travel, something to keep me healthy, and a reason to drink beer on a Tuesday. 😉

Why did you decide to join the Station Pub Run? I was recruited by Melissa Jensen. 🙂 We ran together in the Fleet Feet marathon training program, and she told me about SPR!

What is your favorite thing about the Station Pub Run? It’s a great group of people! I also love running in Carrboro, so the routes are a bonus! And, of course, the beer.

Describe the most recent (appropriate 🙂 ) photo you took with your phone: I take a LOT of food pictures, so it’s surprising that my last photo isn’t of something I made/ate. But, it’s a picture of a lovely dirt trail along a creek in Umstead, where I ran on Sunday morning!

What is the best piece of advice you ever received, and who gave it to you? I have no idea who exactly instilled this value in me, but I’m sure it’s actually been more than one person. “If it doesn’t make you happy, why are you doing it?”

There are plenty in things in life we HAVE to do – pay taxes, do laundry, take our car to the shop, clean our shower (anyone else hate that?) – that aren’t super fun. The choices we can make, like what we do for a living, the people we surround ourselves with, the things we do in our free time; these should be things that genuinely bring us joy. Otherwise, why are you doing them? Get rid of the bad energy and choose happy!

If you could have any talent or skill in the entire world, without needing to practice and money was no limitation, what would it be? 100% it would be teleportation. Imagine being able to go to Italy for a weekend with no travel time or costs!

Tell us something about yourself that not many people know: I studied abroad in Russia in 2010, and now I’m really judgy on vodka.

What is something you have done recently, or are about to do, that you are proud of? I graduated from UNC with my Master of Public Health in December and passed my exam to become a Registered Dietitian in February!

Anything else you’d like to share with us?! I just ran my first 50k earlier this month, and I can’t wait to do another one!

Corrine McCarthy

June 4, 2019 / Steph Bryant / Comments Off

Where are you from? Orland Park, IL (Southwest suburbs of Chicago)

How long have you lived in the area? 2.5 years

What are three words your friends would use to describe you? Dorky, profane, hungry

Why do you run? To socialize, to stay fit, to justify my love of potato chips.

Why did you decide to join the Station Pub Run? My friends from the DRG (Doug’s Running Group) were doing it, and I followed them.

What is your favorite thing about the Station Pub Run? Winning all those raffles (jk lol)! For real, it’s all of the friends I’ve made.

Describe the most recent (appropriate 🙂 ) photo you took with your phone: I took a picture of my homemade crispy tofu with broccoli. It’s very sexy for a vegan dish.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received, and who gave it to you? “Just sign up for the full. The half will be too easy.” – Anne Mandeville-Long

If you could have any talent or skill in the entire world, without needing to practice and money was no limitation, what would it be? I’d like to be able to make anyone laugh on command.

Tell us something about yourself that not many people know: I have a phobia of stickers and wet paper. That is why I will never carry a route on a run, unless I take a picture of it with my phone.

What is something you have done recently, or are about to do, that you are proud of? I convinced a group of people to sign up for a 50k in the mountains! Then I did the thing. The convincing part was what made me most proud, though, because I am an introvert.

Please share your favorite quote or slogan: “Dare to be legendary today!!!!!”

Anything else you’d like to share with us?! Thank you to Steph for organizing this wonderful group. It is truly the highlight of my week.

Kevin Field

May 27, 2019 / Steph Bryant / Comments Off

Where are you from? West Orange, NJ

How long have you lived in the area? Almost a year! I moved down at the end of last June.

What are three words your friends would use to describe you? Nerdy, nice, and kinda crazy

Why do you run? Running is a fun way to clear my head, and a lot healthier than my other hobbies.

Why did you decide to join the Station Pub Run? Rebecca Rubinstein told us about it, and I’ve been coming ever since.

What is your favorite thing about the Station Pub Run? It doesn’t matter how much you run, everyone is incredibly encouraging. It’s a supportive environment that welcomes newcomers.

Describe the most recent (appropriate 🙂 ) photo you took with your phone: A picture of the stage at the oddest concert I’ve ever been to (Superorganism).

What is the best piece of advice you ever received, and who gave it to you? Do what you love, because you’ll have to work hard no matter what you choose—my undergrad lab manager.

If you could have any talent or skill in the entire world, without needing to practice and money was no limitation, what would it be? Playing the piano—you can play any kind of music on it, and I’m a huge Billy Joel fan.

Tell us something about yourself that not many people know: I was a few credits short of a history major in college, and almost went to grad school to get a PhD in Jewish History.

What is something you have done recently, or are about to do, that you are proud of? Running the tobacco road half marathon and actually training for it!

Please share your favorite quote or slogan: “People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh (or A.A. Milne if you insist).

Anything else you’d like to share with us?! Pub run has been a big part of making my life in Chapel Hill great! It’s always fun to head out and see everyone, and it’s great motivation to get a run in even when it’s pouring rain.

Kelsey Keverline

May 20, 2019 / Steph Bryant / Comments Off

Where are you from? Pittsburgh, PA

How long have you lived in the area? 9 Months!

What are three words your friends would use to describe you? Honest (sometimes brutally), enthusiastic, determined.

Why do you run? Running gives me something to focus on outside of grad school which is nice. I also love Carrboro and running gives me an excuse to explore.

Why did you decide to join the Station Pub Run? I was encouraged by other med students. I had never run before joining Station Pub Run and I love it!

What is your favorite thing about the Station Pub Run? Med school can be pretty socially isolating and I love meeting people outside of school.

Describe the most recent (appropriate 🙂 ) photo you took with your phone: My boyfriend and I went hiking at Hanging Rock. He brought along a water filtration system for a three mile hike so I took a picture of him filling up his fancy filtering water bottle in the stream to make fun of him.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received, and who gave it to you? “If there’s only one person in your life who’s a jerk, they are probably a jerk. If everyone in your life is a jerk, you are probably a jerk.” - I don’t remember who told me this

If you could have any talent or skill in the entire world, without needing to practice and money was no limitation, what would it be? I would be really good at skiing. Skiing looks fun but it’s expensive and hard to get to a place where you can do stuff without fear of death.

Tell us something about yourself that not many people know: Not many people in Pub Run know that I do stand up comedy and perform with Eyes Up Here comedy!

What is something you have done recently, or are about to do, that you are proud of? I ran my first half marathon!

Please share your favorite quote or slogan: “Don’t half ass two things. Whole ass one thing”

Rebecca Rubinstein

May 10, 2019 / Steph Bryant / Comments Off

Where are you from? Hazlet, NJ

How long have you lived in the area? 10 months

What are three words your friends would use to describe you? Loud, empathetic, and scatterbrained

Why do you run? Mostly for my mental health; it’s probably the only form of exercise after tap dancing that makes me feel more relaxed and happier after I do it. I love putting my music on, letting my mind wander and taking in the beautiful scenery outside.

Why did you decide to join the Station Pub Run? I needed someone to hold me accountable to run. The community is also fantastic—I remember at my first Pub Run, Ed introduced me to a lot of people and started talking to me about the World Cup. During my first few runs it was really easy to make new friends, and that’s what’s kept me coming back.

What is your favorite thing about the Station Pub Run? I love the friendly and supportive atmosphere of the run. No one pressures me to run more or faster than I feel comfortable. It’s also great to get a chance to spend time with people outside my school bubble!

Describe the most recent (appropriate 🙂 ) photo you took with your phone: A photo of a flower garden on an indoor veranda in New Orleans.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received, and who gave it to you? In college, as I was crying about a boy who broke my heart, I told my friend, “I just want to be the most important person in someone’s life!” In response, my friend told me, “Rebecca, YOU have to be the most important person in your life.” It didn’t make a lot of sense to me at the time, but now I take it to mean that our self-worth is what we have at the end of the day. No one can know exactly what goes on in my head except for me, and that solitude can be liberating rather than lonely.

If you could have any talent or skill in the entire world, without needing to practice and money was no limitation, what would it be? Probably the ability to speak any language I want, at the level of a native speaker.

Tell us something about yourself that not many people know: Music runs in my family. My mom is a trained opera singer and my dad has played the piano his whole life. My mom told me that I learned to sing before I learned to talk. As she was changing my diaper one day, she noticed my singing the melody of the Barney Song (“I love you, you love me…”) before I said my first words.

What is something you have done recently, or are about to do, that you are proud of? At my job last year, I started a research project on the prevalence of birth defects in a cohort of babies who may have been exposed to Zika virus during pregnancy. Although we’re still collecting data, I’m proud of taking the initiative to use data that we collected for another purpose and share our findings with the scientific community.

Please share your favorite quote or slogan: This quote from George will always makes me laugh: “The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.”

Anything else you'd like to share with us?! The picture I took is of me standing above the wing of the plane I took over the Nazca Lines in Peru!

Tara K

April 30, 2019 / Steph Bryant / Comments Off

Where are you from? I grew up in the Midwest. I'm definitely a transplant.

How long have you lived in the area? Save for a 5-year gap, 19 years (since 2000).

What are three words your friends would use to describe you? Gosh, I don't know. You'd have to ask them.

Why do you run? To meet people and form community and to stave off middle-age spread.

Why did you decide to join the Station Pub Run? I loved Fleet Feet's pub run when Steph coordinated that. When I learned that she had started up a new run at the Station, I knew I had to attend. Thank you, Steph!

What is your favorite thing about the Station Pub Run? I'm not a big fan of the word community, but I have to say that is my favorite thing. Again, thank you, Steph, for creating this running community out of nothing. The runners/walkers (humans and dogs) who come each week are also lovely. I've met great people and had time to connect with my fave run buds.

Describe the most recent (appropriate 🙂 ) photo you took with your phone: A few days ago, I snapped a pick of my little guy, Peanut, in his green frog raincoat and sent it to his aunt, who lives out of state.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received, and who gave it to you? My sister offered this nugget of wisdom several years ago: “Life by the yard is hard, Life by the inch is a cinch.” Corny, but it's so true.

If you could have any talent or skill in the entire world, without needing to practice and money was no limitation, what would it be? Only one? I'd love to be excellent at tennis.

Tell us something about yourself that not many people know: I'm vegan and have been for three-ish years. Love it.

What is something you have done recently, or are about to do, that you are proud of? I defended my dissertation several years ago and remain proud of doing so. It is still the hardest thing I've done.

Please share your favorite quote or slogan: I don't have the quote, so I'll to paraphrase. In his memoir on writing, which is called On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King offers great advice about writing and procrastination. Basically, he says that you cannot wait for the muse to find you. You have to have a set schedule so that the muse knows exactly where to find you. So, in a nutshell, treat writing like a job with a set schedule, place of work, and so forth, and good things will happen at some point.

Andreas Jozwiak

April 22, 2019 / Steph Bryant / Comments Off

Where are you from? Corpus Christi, Texas

How long have you lived in the area? 5 years

What are three words your friends would use to describe you? (hopefully) fun, extroverted, and ambitious

Why do you run? It’s the best way to decompress after a long day of looking at a screen and get some sun.

Why did you decide to join the Station Pub Run? Because Steph is the best! But also because I like the social part of the run – it’s much more fun to share a passion with others.

What is your favorite thing about the Station Pub Run? Beer, obvi. (Also, I met my partner at a pub run – and even though we didn’t start at the Station, we still run with the Station!)

Describe the most recent (appropriate 🙂 ) photo you took with your phone: A picture of a friend working on building her tenth cheese and salsa taco during Sunday funday. 😉

What is the best piece of advice you ever received, and who gave it to you? I’ve gotten a lot of unwanted advice about how to be successful in graduate school. But there are a lot of paths to success so you shouldn’t compare yourself to what others have done.

If you could have any talent or skill in the entire world, without needing to practice and money was no limitation, what would it be? Fly a plane – I always wanted to be a pilot

Tell us something about yourself that not many people know: I already gave away the best fun fact that I met my partner at a pub run….but probably that I love the outdoors (especially mountains!). I’m always looking up new hikes to do around my parents’ home in Washington state.

What is something you have done recently, or are about to do, that you are proud of? I presented the first article of my dissertation at a conference in Chicago last week. As of this morning, I am the proud parent of some basil seedlings that I hope make some yummy pesto in the next weeks.

Please share your favorite quote or slogan: “The mountains are calling and I must go."

Anything else you’d like to share with us?! I’m honored to be pub runner of the week. 🙂

Alex Osbourne Schwed

April 14, 2019 / Steph Bryant / Comments Off

Where are you from? I hail from a small township outside of Cleveland, OH called Bainbridge.

How long have you lived in the area? ~42 million seconds (it’s legit)

What are three words your friends would use to describe you? Pain in ass (but in the best way possible).

Why do you run? I find it calming.

Why did you decide to join the Station Pub Run? I felt it would be unjust of me to enjoy the appetizers of the fancy night out as merely the pub run’s bartender. So I decided to run (with the weekend Purple Bowl group).

What is your favorite thing about the Station Pub Run? Makin' that cash.

Describe the most recent (appropriate 🙂 ) photo you took with your phone: It is a sunny afternoon and we are standing in our front yard. My brother-in law is shading himself with a turquoise umbrella that has a cartoon print of cats around the rim. He is holding porcelain china in his hand and my jawless derpy dachshund is standing on our porch in the background.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received, and who gave it to you? Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do twice - my father.

If you could have any talent or skill in the entire world, without needing to practice and money was no limitation, what would it be? Tap dance? maybe?

Tell us something about yourself that not many people know: When I hear people say, ‘it is what it is,’ I want to smack them in the face. Say that next time you win the lottery.

What is something you have done recently, or are about to do, that you are proud of? Get a poem published in a children’s journal!

Please share your favorite quote or slogan: SANDOS

Anything else you’d like to share with us?! I truly look forward to every Tuesday night.

Dan Hirschman

April 1, 2019 / Steph Bryant / Comments Off

Where are you from? Gastonia, NC

How long have you lived in the area? About 17 total years in the Triangle, with a few breaks sprinkled in. The current streak is 12 years.

What are three words your friends would use to describe you? Lost in space? Or maybe furry, convivial, and kind?

Why do you run? Few things in life are as simple, unadorned, and natural. When I run, I feel completely free and it gives me great joy.

Why did you decide to join the Station Pub Run? I just blindly follow Steph.

What is your favorite thing about the Station Pub Run? Camaraderie, community, and beer.

Describe the most recent (appropriate 🙂 ) photo you took with your phone: I took a picture of my Nike Flyknit Vaporfly 4%s. Mmmm…shoe porn.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received, and who gave it to you? This advice wasn’t given directly to me, but I heard it nonetheless and I think it’s great: “The secret to a long and healthy life is to be stress-free. Be grateful for everything you have, stay away from people who are negative, stay smiling and keep running.” —Fauja Singh

If you could have any talent or skill in the entire world, without needing to practice and money was no limitation, what would it be? Photographic memory would be pretty useful.

Tell us something about yourself that not many people know: I’m a character in an award-winning novel.

What is something you have done recently, or are about to do, that you are proud of? The Boston Marathon, which depending on when this is published, I will have either just done or will be about to do for the first time.

Please share your favorite quote or slogan: “There’s a bit of Pub Run in all of us.” (Thank you Sloganizer.net for the help on this one).

Anything else you’d like to share with us?! Math is not my forte. My 11 year-old son now regularly beats me in H-O-R-S-E… and it’s not like I don’t have game. My favorite band has always been and will always be R.E.M. I wish Pub Run was on Wednesday night. Late night conversations at a bar, whether with friends or strangers, are a totally underrated experience. That covers it for now.

Carrboro Run Club