The Pint Cup busted out a 30 mile round trip hike to the highest point in Utah! All in the name of finding adventure and proving to men that they just shouldn't mansplain to women because they will always be wrong. 🙂
Tag: Stories (page 1 of 2)
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.
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.
Where are you from? I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, more specifically Northwest Indiana.
How long have you lived in the area? I moved to NC in 2005 for grad school and ended up staying once I realized I wouldn’t have to suffer through another Chicago winter unless I wanted to. :0
What are three words your friends would use to describe you? Tall, smart, funny … I hope. 🙂
Why do you run? I run because it’s one of the most effective ways to exercise. Plus, it builds character.
Why did you decide to join the Station Pub Run? I have a personal rule that I never turn down an invitation to exercise. One day a coworker invited me to the Pub Run and now I’m stuck doing it for the rest of eternity.
What is your favorite thing about the Station Pub Run? I really enjoy catching up on the previous week with my new friends and cooling off with a beer after the run.
Describe the most recent (appropriate ☺) photo you took with your phone: I have a great picture of my 12-person team from a long running relay race I did recently. I also took a picture of some gelato.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received, and who gave it to you? I’ve heard it many ways from many different people, including loved ones, a physics professor and a former CEO—simply: be flexible.
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 love to know how to paint or to generally be a great artist.
Tell us something about yourself that not many people know: I had to be rescued by a lifeguard my first time swimming in the ocean because I got caught in a riptide. I was 21 years old at the time. (Midwest, represent!)
What is something you have done recently, or are about to do, that you are proud of? I just ran a 200-mile, 12-person relay race through New Hampshire. I personally ran about 13 miles total over 30 hours, which is quite a bit for me. It was a great adventure!
Please share your favorite quote or slogan: “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” ― Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Do you know how magical The Station Pub Run is? Yes, it’s a running group that meets once a week. But it’s really so much more than that. The Station Pub Run is a place where new connections are made, old friendships are strengthened, everyone gets one step closer to whatever fitness goal they have - it really is a beautiful thing. There is a kind of momentum to Pub Run, and I don’t think I’m the only one who feels it. Sometimes at the end of the run, when everyone is back at the bar, gathered in little pods chatting, laughing, and drinking beer, I stand back and try to absorb what’s going on around me. It feels so... organic!
Each week, new runners join our group. They either heard about us from a friend, saw us running through town and did some research, or found us on the interwebs. (I WISH - random google searches have not turned us up yet. While I’m on that subject: stationpubrun.com - google it NOW. Please and thanks.) Regardless, we’re growing, but not at an unsustainable rate. At the end of the day I think we’re still a close-knit community of runners that is very welcoming to new fools that get duped into joining our ranks.
It has taken a lot of effort to turn the Station Pub Run into what it is today: equal parts dogged determination, naive optimism, shameless persistence, goofy-as-hell-enthusiasm, and any other set of descriptors that indicate pushing forth with ideas and actions when the surrounding world thinks you’re just plain ridiculous (read: the traveling pint cup map now hanging on the station front porch). But this effort does not just come from me, it comes from members of our running group as well. First and most important, you all keep showing up! That’s huge. If there were no other runners in this group, I would just be one sad soul sending emails to myself and standing on tables at a bar. Okay I would probably just go for a run by myself. Okay if I’m really being honest, I would probably just go home and sit on my couch, let’s be serious.
But also many runners have gone above and beyond, and have donated their personal time and professional talents to the greater good of The Station Pub Run. While I initially felt very guilty asking people for help (we can thank my Jewish mother for that one), I’ve learned over the years that people WANT to contribute, and it actually helps to make everyone feel more connected with our group. We’re like the co-op of Pub Runs, and I like to think that everyone shares a little piece of the ownership. So now, like a sappy award recipient, or ridiculous person that I am (you can pretend I’m Leslie Knope if you want, I would take it as a complement), there’s a few people that deserve a thanks. Be sure to click on their names below, to learn more about each one!!
Photo Cred: Ted Richardson
For starters we have Yik Lam - the ever-dependable “Back-Up Back-Up Run Club Coordinator”. (For the record, there is no Back-Up Run Club Coordinator.) I could probably count on my right hand the number of times that he has missed a Pub Run. He has served as my sounding board for the past several years, and has contributed so much of his own time and resources to our group. (I believe his ultimate plan is to be listed as a sponsor the next time we order shirts, bahaha.) I sometimes even trust him to babysit the run on the rare occasions that I cannot make it out. If there is anyone who eats, sleeps, and breaths Station Pub Run as much as I do, it would be this gentleman right here.
Next up there’s Suzy Porterfield - our resident graphic designer. Did you know she has her own side business designing paper products with clever sayings? And she does design work for her day job too. And somehow she finds the time to fulfill my requests to put together products for The Station Pub Run. Those amazing shirts you own with the giant message on the back that beckons fellow runners ¼ mile behind you to run with you to beer? You can thank Suzy for that. And those redesigned frequent runner punch cards that now have our website listed on them?? The magic touch again, of our very own Ms. Porterfield!
And how about all those amazing new photos that are starting to go up on our website and social media? They certainly didn’t come from a cell phone camera! Ted Richardson is Station Pub Runner by night, and professional photographer by day. And he very generously photographed us WHILE RUNNING HIMSELF one evening, all for free. I think I may have given him a sticker as a thank you. So I take that back. Ted got paid with a $2 sticker. Does that make him a sponsored runner now?
And finally - Jonathan Tweedy is probably the person whose talents I have exploited most of all. The 
very website on which you are reading this post (congrats if you’ve made it this far) has all been made possible by Jon. He programs websites for a living, and could have charged me a very fine premium for this site. Instead he has dedicated SO MUCH time to this project, and has very kindly responded to my website requests at all hours of the day and night. And conveniently, Jon likes to work out of bars, so our “website meetings” often occur over a good drink. 🙂 Everybody's a winner!
I personally pour my heart and soul into the Station Pub Run. I do it because I love our running group, and it’s worth it to me to invest my time and energy into something that I think makes a difference for people. (And I do dream of a distant day when I can make running-group-organizing a full time, paying gig - a girl can dream!!) It’s worth it to me to have a solid running community in the heart of Carrboro. And I know this passion has overflowed into you folks as well. A passage from a book I recently read sums it all up better than I can:
“But here’s something amazing. Although you should give simply for the sake of giving, the reality is that abundance that brings us more joy, more love, more wealth, and more meaning in our lives. Generally speaking, the more you give, the wealthier you feel. And it’s not just a feeling. As strange as it may seem, the truth is that money often flows faster to those who give. Why? Because givers attract abundance into their lives rather than scarcity.”
All of this generosity is incredible, and these words could not be more true. “Givers attract abundance in their lives.” Maybe I give a lot to the pub run, but you all give back 100 fold. In addition to the people credited above, we have many community members who have donated in-kind gifts to our run: The Station continues to provide the major food discounts connected to our punch cards, raffle prizes have been donated from Fleet Feet Carrboro, Ed Billings of Terra Nova Real Estate and Tina Clossick. Anonymous cash donations have even trickled in here and there from some of your fellow Station Pub Runners (this one leaves me speechless! Just kidding, I can ALWAYS find words). People even bring food, treats, and other giveaways (read: boxes of audiobooks from Shauna; ants on a log from Doug, ha!) just to share with their fellow runners!
Our run started from very humble beginnings, and I’m very proud of our grassroots effort to make it grow to the extent that it has. While there are the obviously visible efforts you see and read everyday, there are MANY behind the scenes contributions that you should all know are just as responsible for our success. I want you to know that everything you all do for this run has not gone unnoticed, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully express how much I appreciate you all for your help. (Maybe we can do retroactive kickbacks when Station Pub Run gets bought out by Amazon?? Or when we become a publicly traded company? We should probably start forming a board of directors just in case!)
Alright, I think I’ve said enough for now. If you somehow missed the message in today’s post, it is a big, resounding THANK YOU to all. Tally ho!
Where are you from? What is more important: where I’m from, or where I’m going? Where I’m going is to a place in life where I have a satisfying job, contribute a little good to the world, and can have fun and adventure with loved ones. Where I’m from? California.
How long have you lived in the area? 6.5 years per the western calendar.
What are three words your friends would use to describe you? Funny, over-the-top (is that one word?), and ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Why do you run? Some of my closest relationships have been formed because of running. Running is a great starting point to share stories and get to really know people. Also, zombies.
Why did you decide to join the Station Pub Run? When you drink the Steph Kool-Aid, you don’t make your own decisions.
What is your favorite thing about the Station Pub Run? Keeping up with friends, meeting new people, and the post-run stench of achievement.
Describe the most recent (appropriate J) photo you took with your phone: My co-worker Evan and me eating Arby’s.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received, and who gave it to you? “When you floss, you have to really get in between your teeth and into your gums.” – My dental hygienist. Symbolically, I take this advice to mean that whether working or traveling, it’s important to take the time to really understand other people and places. On a more surface level, a good floss reduces gum bleeding.
I would like to submit a second piece of advice: “Put away your cell phone.” – My girlfriend Emma
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 fluent in all the world’s languages so I could commune with all of humanity. There is nothing more rewarding than having a conversation over dinner, a beer, or a cup of tea wherever you are in the world. Also, you can more easily talk about people behind their backs.
Oh, I would like to be a great dancer too…
Oh, and I wish I could sing better…
Tell us something about yourself that not many people know: I’m a middle child, and middle child syndrome is a thing. I’ve spent a large portion of my life trying to break out of the anonymity associated with such an affliction. Some of my prouder achievements associated with flailing my arms around for attention include: Spending two years teaching math in Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer, running my first marathon, and achieving the status of backup-backup run club coordinator.
What is something you have done recently, or are about to do, that you are proud of? Over a four-week span in early October, I hope to: run my second marathon, run a 5K, run my first ultramarathon, and participate in the Tuna Run (200-mile team run). Will I succeed in all these endeavors? Probably not. But one can take pride in glorious failures, right?
Please share your favorite quote or slogan: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has” – Margaret Mead
Applicable to Station Pub Run, I believe.
A close second is: “Tally Ho!” – Steph
Anything else you’d like to share with us?! A couple of thoughts: I like bringing my running shoes on vacation. Most recently, Emma and I ran around Paris. This was a great and different way to see the city. Also, it built up an appetite for chocolate croissants.
Never take for granted a good pub run coordinator. You can thank her with candy.
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