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The Running Store (TRS) and Saucony are excited to partner together and introduce our TRS AMBASSADORS PROGRAM POWERED BY SAUCONY. TRS Ambassadors are 1) Local runners/walkers who are active in the running community, 2) Strong supporters of The Running Store’s welcoming attitude toward runners of all shape, size, and speed, 3) Eager to share their love of running, walking, and fitness. Our committee selected 18 local runners and walkers. The one common thread that our TRS Ambassadors share is their love of running, fitness and their willingness to share this passion with others. Our 2011-2012 Ambassadors are: |
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| Saturday Manassas Battlefield Run Ambassadors |
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Bob Greenberg Bob considers himself a mid-pack competitive runner and prefers single track and tree roots over pavement. His self-deprecating humor and lust for sweat get him through the long training runs. Bob has never won a race, but is proud to state that his growing number of marathons have all been completed in sub-4 hour time. Bob believes that everyone's post race recovery plan should include copious amounts of chocolate cake and beer. |
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Lorraine W. Grothoff Lorraine has just recently started running long distances, completing her first half marathon in 2010 and now training for her first marathon in October. She's not very fast but is addicted to getting out there and running. She loves the folks at TRS and is thrilled to be an Ambassador to welcome more people into the running group. |
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Steven McMahon Competitive running was the solution to Steve's mid-30's crisis! He's always enjoyed running but racing allows him to find the satisfaction of meeting and exceeding his personal goals. He's a social runner as he enjoys the camaraderie of running with others and sharing stories along the way. The Manassas Battlefield is his course of choice because of its combination of history, beauty, challenge and good company on a Saturday morning. |
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Craig Odell Craig ran cross country in high school and was fast. He then ran inconsistently when he ran at all. After struggling in a couple of marathons, he found The Running Store's running club. He now enjoys a great group of supportive people to run with and he enjoys running again! |
Elite Ambassadors
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Rob Bell Rob is a late blooming runner who started running xc/ track as a senior at Battlefield High; then later continued running at Virginia Wesleyan College where he earned All-Conference in the 10,000m and Mile. He still runs around 90 miles a week and enjoys being healthy, in shape, and everything else that running has to offer.Recent races: 9/1 VWC XC 6k (grass)- 19:59
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Keith Freeburn Keith is a father of three young children and a geriatric physical therapist. He has been inspired to make running an important part of his life by seeing the positive effects that an active lifestyle can have on the aging process. Having been over 200lbs he has recently achieved his racing goal weight of 139lbs and has enjoyed an amazing year of running personal bests in distances from the mile to the 10k. He looks forward to running with The Running Store’s racing team, being a TRS ambassador and trying to inspire others to achieve their own personal bests.
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| Tri Ambassadors |
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Richard Atkinson Richard is a former collegiate runner who continues to enjoy all aspects of running as well as triathlons. He's completed multiple races in the metro DC area but now on a more "socially" competitive level. He runs to help stay fit and promote a healthy, active lifestyle. He currently resides in Nokesville, VA with his wife Wendy and daughter Allison. |
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Lauren Bussian Lauren is a member of the triathlon club at the University of Virginia. She did her first triathlon at 13 and has been competing in triathlons consistently since she was 15. She ran in middle school and high school, but overuse injuries pushed her towards the cross training that would cultivate her passion for triathlons. Her love of the sport and of a healthy lifestyle has motivated her to pursue a degree in Kinesiology, and she hopes in the future to work with athletes who hold her same passion! |
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Leigh Short Leigh grew up in a running family. She was the daughter of a long time high school track and cross country coach. She has been running since she was 12. She also enjoys strength training. Her home is a zoo with 3 kids, 2 yellow labs and a cat! Leigh's blog can be found here. |
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Philips Thomas Philips competed on High school teams and always ran for fundamental training. During college he got out of shape and packed on the pounds. In 2008 he started training again and won a biggest loser contest at work. While training for his first marathon, he got injured and got bit by the Tri-Bug and the journey continues...
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| Store Ambassadors |
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Tierney Archer Tierney has been running regularly for the last year and a half. Previously, when thinking about running,Tierney thought of breath and out of breath. She thought, yeah right, not me. But then she questioned, why not? Once she had this thought, she added running a marathon to her bucket list. When she started thinking about training for her first marathon (the Marine Corps) it seemed like a daunting task, one that she may not be able to complete on her own. But, on a trip to The Running Store for a new pair of shoes, she first learned about their training programs. She decided to join so that she could train the RIGHT way. After running countless 5k’s, and several other longer races (including a couple of Half Marathons), she finally accomplished her goal of completing the Marine Corps Marathon last year! Tierney couldn’t have done it without the expert knowledge, structured training programs and endless support of all of the professionals at The Running Store; particularly Coach Sherri and Mary! This journey has given Tierney new confidence, incredible friendships, healthy encouragement, and the strong belief that she can accomplish any goal. When Tierney heard about the Ambassador program, she wanted to be able to share her experience with others. With her story, Tierney hopes to inspire others to achieve their goals! |
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Derek Biendl Derek has been active in soccer from an early age. He's been a travel soccer coach for over 11 years and promotes a healthy lifestyle and running as a way to improve his players' soccer abilities. Derek has participated in numerous races around the area and has been helping with the TRS youth running club since it's inception. |
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Lara Biendl Lara is a teacher at Glenkirk Elementary where she has helped to coordinate and run a school running club. She has participated in many races around the area and has helped with the TRS youth running club. She enjoys running with her family and helping to motivate kids to live healthy lifestyles. |
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Stacy Gagne During high school and college, Stacy hated running (after all, running was used as punishment in her sports of volleyball and basketball). She started off slowly, not even being able to run a mile; did her first 5k, then 8k, then 10k and then started looking at longer distances. She ran her first marathon in 2003 and since then has done 16 marathons with a PR of 3:33. She has run 4 official ultra marathons, including two 100+ milers. She prefers long, slow runs over shorter distances and speed workouts. She has two kids (5 and 3) and ran through both pregnancies (including a 3 mile run pushing her daughter in a baby jogger the day before she gave birth to her son). She says some call her "crazy", she prefers "passionate", but she loves running and is willing to share her experiences with anyone who wants to listen! |
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Michele Howard Michelle is a graduate of James Madison University. She became interested in running while her daughter was a cross country runner at Brentsville. For her birthday, her family gave her the first ever Running Store Marathon training program and she has been running ever since. She has run in 5 marathons and numerous half marathons. Last year she qualified to run in the Boston Marathon. She lives in Bristow with her husband and children. |
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Michael Ruber Mike is currently enjoying his "second life" as a runner. After being very active throughout his early-mid 20s, a broken femur sidelined him and he didn't do much running for about 10 years. When he started back up in early 2008, he realized how much he missed the sport. Since then, he's run three marathons and a few other shorter races. His current goals are a sub-40:00 10k and a 3:10 marathon. |
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Matthew Spaulding Matt began running in middle school where he ran the mile and two mile events in track. He added cross country to the mix in high school. His love for running increased while attending college at Marshall University. Since college, Matt has run the Marine Corps Marathon twice, half marathons such as VA Beach and Philly Rock and Roll and 10 mile races such as Army 10 Miler, Cherry Blossom 10 miler, while being a huge promoter of the National Police Week 5k in Washington, DC. He resides in South Riding with his wife and German Shepherd Marco. |
| Walking Ambassadors |
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Ginger Piper Ginger is a research analyst and received her Forensic Science Master's degree from GWU. Having walked in the Wind River, WY, Chamonix, Patagonia, and Bali, Ginger became an enthusiastic hiker. She resides in Haymarket with her husband -- her daughters and grandchildren live nearby. |
