I am forty two years old, I was born in Boston MA, but my family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area when I was three…My father was/is an athlete, and he encouraged and pushed me (when needed) into playing soccer when I was young (he was born and raised in Scotland, so you can see why soccer was what I was going to play)…I played soccer and swam competitively from the age of 12 through high school…During high school I began riding bikes and running so I could compete in triathlons, and I dabbled in open water swimming…After high school I decided to devote myself full time to cigarettes and overeating, managing to gain 50 pounds and become as sedentary as my job would allow (underground construction requires some physical effort)…at the age of 28 I decided that I probably was going to live past 30, so I should try and get in better shape, I began running because it was the easiest way to work out given my schedule…All the equipment needed could be stuffed in a bag and kept in my work truck, allowing me to run from wherever the job ended…A friend of mine at work got me racing, and the distances just kept getting longer, culminating in my first Ultra nine years ago (Quadruple Dipsea)…I ran my first marathon the week after my first Ultra…
I am a Maintenance Supervisor with the Marin Municipal Water District, having worked there for the last 22 years, and reside in Corte Madera with my lovely and talented wife Shelley, and our four lovely but less talented cats (Bella, Stinky, Pig and Louie)…I have completed 17 marathons and 24 Ultras including two 100 mile runs…I definitely have “wish list” runs that I would like to complete including Western States 100 (wish me luck in this year’s lottery), Hardrock 100, Vermont 100, Wasach Front 100, JFK 50, and several more…I am grateful that I have been able to get to the races that I have, and hope to be able to do this for many more years…
I am not a trainer in the professional sense, and I am a dedicated midpacker when it comes to finishes, but I enjoy working out with people and helping them(when I can) push themselves further than they thought they could go…I believe that all of us are capable of so much more than we think, and discovering that is one of the most beautiful things that can happen….Ultra running has given me the chance to discover some incredible things about myself and others, and has put me in situations that I would never arrive at unless I did this…The lessons I have learned have applied to every part of my life…
