2021 AllWeDoIsRun Ambassador Team

Mauricio Puerto

What's your name? Mauricio Puerto
Where are you from? Ventura , California
What's your story? I’m an adventure at heart, at a young age living in Belchertown Massachusetts I was an avid Cross-country skier, mountain biker and general outdoor explorer. My running career began when I joined the US Navy Seabees severing for 20 years and was required to run 1.5 mile to show that I wa

Brenda Luce

What’s your name: Brenda Luce

Where are you from: Ventura California

What’s your story:

I didn’t run a mile till I was nearly 40. I was convinced at school that the 6 Minute Jog/Walk was designed to kill off the weak. In 2015 I was introduced to trail running, and went to my first Born To Run event in 2016. That same year was a rough year and brought huge changes in my life. The trai

Stan Otremba

What’s your name? Stan Otremba

Where are you from? Santa Maria California

What’s your story? I am a father of 4 amazing (active) kids and husband to an adventure loving woman that puts up with my craziness! I have always been involved in sports (BMX racing, Powerlifting, Football, Baseball) and used running for my cardio, it wasn’t until my wife said I was “thick” 13 years ago that I st

Andy Sanders

What’s your name? Andy Sanders
Where are you from? Empire, Colorado
What’s your story? Grew up loving the outdoors. Got into running in my mid 20's working up from 5k's to marathons. Did my first ultra in 2011 at the inaugural Born to Run and have been running ultra's since. I'm married with two kids and currently live in northern Virginia.
What is your goal as an AllWeDoIsRun Ambassa

Nicole Vito

What's your name? Nicole (Nikki) Vito

Where are you from? Originally from Davenport, Iowa. Moved to Santa Barbara at age 13. Currently living in Los Osos, CA.

What's your story? This could be a very long answer from me - as my boyfriend can attest to. I started running half marathons at age 27 when I got talked into it by some friends and everyone dropped out. I was terrified but w

Lauren Pearch

Name: Lauren Pearch

Where I’m from: Originally just a kid from Akron, Ohio but currently kicking some dirt in the Santa Cruz mountains

My story: I started running in my mid twenties, long after my high school running coach told me to go run six miles (I quit because people just don’t do that). I originally ran as a means of control and then found the trails and realized the only way

Thomas R Cassidy

Born in Santa Barbara, lived in Pasadena most of my life

The proud father of 2, Ashley 31, and Ryan 27. Married last year to an amazing Latina, Mary Sol, who completes me. She speaks some English, I speak hardly any Spanish. But loves always wins.

Tall, lanky & not coordinated, I was hardly ever an athlete. I played golf in high school, mostly to get off campus. I’ve struggled with m

Toni Reese

Brighton, MI

Story - I started running 9 years ago with a simple invitation to run a turkey trot with my brother on Thanksgiving morning. Gradually, I smoked less and ran more. I'm proud to say that running has literally saved my life since I have not smoked a cigarette in 9 years.

I'm a free spirited ultra marathon runner that approaches every run with only one expectation, to improve m

Mark Herman

What’s Your Name - Mark Herman

Where are you From - San Jose California

What’s your Story - I’m a 46-year-old Body Artist and Martial Arts instructor, former professional Musician, former drug addict. I come from the world of music and entertainment, not sports, Sex, Drugs and RockNRoll, not anything healthy. I started playing music at 22 years old, signed my first record deal with Mad

Louisa Bancroft Wood

I grew up in Minnesota and New Hampshire, but have lived all over the world in Europe, Asia, and South America. I have lived in Santa Barbara, California for the past 11 years. I am a single female, bisexual, mother of four boys. I am a passionate musician, an empathetic special educator, and a powerful human rights advocate. I am an athlete and one foul-mouthed, highly gramma

Rob DeCou

What’s your name? Rob DeCou

Where are you from? Port Angeles, Washington

What’s your story? Growing up I viewed running as a punishment like most young athletes. As I got further into sports I made it a point to get good at whatever coaches used as punishment. Whenever they would punish my teammates, I would come alongside with the extra mileage or conditioning. In college, one of my psycho

Chad Hinkle

What's your name? Chad Hinkle

Where are you from? Orcutt, California.

What's your story? I grew up on the central coast of California riding dirt bikes with my dad and camping in the Santa Barbara backcountry. As an adult to satisfy the need to be out and move around I have pursued rock climbing, hiking, backpacking, bmx, mountain biking. And in an effort to get better at mountain unicyc

Jessi Clegane

What's your name? Jessi Clegane

Where are you from? Some level of Hell, but currently in Orcutt, CA.

What's your story? After failing to join the 27 club, I figured I should accept the fact that I'm going to be around for a while. So I dropped about 160 lbs of bad weight, quit smoking cigarettes, and started making plans to head for Scotland. Then I met Chad. He introduced me to trail/

Alejandra Santos

What’s your name? Alejandra Santos

Where are you from? Los Angeles CA but I currently live in Los Olivos CA

What’s your story? I was always a runner and I love playing sports. I grew up swimming, and I was involved with the swim team, and I still swim a lot. Since moving to Los Olivos I was introduced to running again. I was a recreational runner for a long period of time until I

Erika Sherwood

What’s your name? Erika Sherwood

Where are you from? San Diego, CA

What’s your story? I've been running for eleven years now, since moving to San Diego from Michigan in 2010. I spend most of my time running from brewery to brewery in my Lunas, likely dragging my husband, Trevor, along with me. When I'm not running, I enjoy introducing my friends to the spicy world of hot sauce and m

Laura Nieman

What’s your name? Laura Nieman

Where are you from? I grew up and lived all over both as an Army brat and then as an adult. I’m now happily enjoying the San Diego sunshine.

What’s your story? I’ve always been active, a traveler, and loved hiking. It took me awhile to start running, but in 2012 after recovering from a fractured back I decided to train for a mud run with a friend. Th

Mara Klassen

What’s your name? Mara Klassen

Where are you from? Originally from Thousand Oaks, CA, now living in Oxnard, CA

What’s your story? I’ve never enjoyed exercise and have spent most of my adult life extremely obese. My husband Manley is an ultrarunner and I found my niche in the community working aid stations. In December 2019 I became extremely sick, diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, had F

Denise Sauriol

What’s your name? Denise Sauriol

Where are you from? Chicago

What’s your story? I discovered running in the fourth grade and we have been best friends ever since. I still don’t have eye-hand-ball coordination but with running you just put your shoes on and move forward and no coordination required. Since I wasn’t a very fast runner, I never thought I could do a marathon. I thought tha

Graham Kelly

My name is Graham Kelly.

I live in Glasgow, Scotland

Endurance and adventure have always fascinated me. Both have been a major part of my life for well, most of it.

A railway signaling engineer to trade but qualified Mountain Leader and member of the Lomond Mountain Rescue Team, spare times are based in the Scottish Mountains – a habit that has led to a full round Munro & Corbett summit

Jeff Genova

What’s your name? Jeff Genova

Where are you from? I live in Holland Michigan but have moved all over the country.

What’s your story? I am married and father/step father to 6 children and one grandson. I played lacrosse when I was younger until I got injured and needed to find a less abusive pass time. So I started running. My first run I cussed the entire way around the block. But I did

Kate Breitschwerdt

What’s your name? Kate Breitschwerdt

Where are you from? Beautiful Monrovia, CA

What’s your story? Where do I begin? …. I started running for fun with my dad when I was about 6-years-old. Since then, I competed at the high school level and went on to race D1 Cross Country. After college, I completed my first 100-miler at San Diego and from there said “Adios!” to 5ks and have fal

Patrick Sweeney
My name is Patrick Sweeney

I am originally from the South Bay of Los Angeles Currently Olive Dell Ranch.

Just a dude who likes to open doors by running through them. My favorite place to run is anywhere with hot soft sand that I can run barefoot in. If I can run naked I will. I've won some races, seen some places, and drank a shit ton of beers in the process.

My Goal as an ambassad

Thomas Reiss

What’s your name? Thomas Reiss

Where are you from? Currently I am living in San Luis Obispo, California.

Born and raised in Landau Germany.

What’s your story?

www.thomasreiss.com

Instagram - @Thomas.rei55

Holly Ryerson

What's your name? Holly Ryerson

Where are you from? Soda Springs, CA

What's your story? I am a mountain runner who lives on Donner Summit in the Tahoe National Forest with my husband, two kids and dog. I love technical downhills, cruel ascents, game trails, scrambling up rocks and long days on my feet. I like to create my own routes and navigate old, forgotten trails in the northern Sie

Rusty Legaspi

What’s your name? Rusty Legaspi

Where are you from? Los Angeles, California. (Originally from the Philippines)

What’s your story? I'm a husband and a dad. I always liked the outdoors. But I didn't start running and joining races till my late 20's (I'm 40 now). I'm back of the pack elite jogger. I love pizza, donut, beer and a good slice of pie.

What is your goal as an AllWeDoIsRun A

Emily Bello

Name: Emily Bello

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky

Running Bio: Running began for me in 2005, when I watched my then boyfriend, Todd, run the Disney World Marathon. Seeing his elated and exhausted face after crossing the finish line, I asked him to train me for my first marathon. So began not only our running journey, but the journey of our relationship, love, and eventual marriage (in 20

Challis Popkey

I’m Challis Popkey, born and raised in Boise, Idaho. Running has always been my pilot light, I started giving it gas when I moved in Santa Barbara in 2017. I was focused on road speed, marathon distance, until last year when the trails stole my heart. My goal as an AWDIR Ambassador is to share the gift of prayer through running - feet on the dirt, air in the lungs. And run a sub 8 ho

Marisol Cortes

What’s your name? Marisol Cortes

Where are you from? Los Angeles, California

What’s your story?

I am the mom of an awesome young man that is serving in the US Army. Also the furry mom of

a dog, three cats, three box turtles and one happy goldfish! I am vegan and passionate about

healthy living. I started running roads in 2013 from 5ks progressed to the marathon distance. It

was not until

Sean Lehman

What’s your name? Sean Lehman

Where are you from? Novato, California

What’s your story? I got old, 45 years passed, weighed 230lbs, blood pressure through the roof! Started running Summer of 2016, signed up for a 5K Jan 2017 then, why not; I went straight to a 50 Mile Ultra. Was 1 of 5 raffle ticket winners at last June’s WS100 race day raffle, but did not have a qualifier in 2019, so s

Gloria Perez

My name is Gloria Perez.

I am from Camarillo, California

I started running in 2014. Before that, I remember always envying runners I would see running along the street as I'd drive by. I would think to myself "I wish I could run". So I decided to start running. I started with a couch to 5K and became hooked to the way running made me feel. Strong and confident. Soon after that I increas

Todd Woodward

What's your name? Todd Woodward

Where are you from? Folsom, CA

What's your story? I was born and raised in Santa Clara, CA. Growing up I loved skatebording and BMX racing. But I always viewed running as some sort of punishment. Fast forward 25 years and after the abrupt end of a 15 year marriage it was time to get back in shape. What began as short treadmill runs to warm up for

Edder Belmonte

I was born in the state of Sinaloa in Mexico and moved to the Los Angeles area with my parents when I was five. I have resided in the Central Coast (Orcutt) for about 12 years now.

I have always been drawn to nature and being outdoors and running came into my life out of the blue about 10 years ago. I started running for FUN and I quickly became fascinated with running further and f

Sebastian Salsbury

What’s your name? Sebastian Salsbury

Where are you from? Santa Barbara, California

What’s your story? I’m 15 years old, and I’ve been trail running for over half of my life on earth. And I’ve had fun on every run! I ran my first ultra when I was 9 years old when a guy named Luis Escobar let me run the Red Rock Marathon. Since then I’ve run over 30 trail races and 20 ultras. I’m

Kim Strom

What’s your name? Kim Strom
Where are you from? Originally from Chicago, but mountains are home.
What’s your story? I started running when I lived near the French Alps. I raced a bit, anything between a vertical kilometer and 125km, but mostly found running as an amazing way to explore the mountains and meet people. Running, writing, and photography with the ALPSinsight Collective took

Anthony Kunkel

What’s your name? Anthony Kunkel

Where are you from? Durango, CO

What’s your story? I’m determined to realize every bit of potential I can see inside myself for running, so I’ve contrived an entire life around that goal. Through that, I’ve learned a ton and I like to think I’ve grown as a human being. I’ve also ended up with a perfect training environment, both my valley in Durango

John Glines

Santa Maria, Ca

My Story: I started doing OCR in 2014 with my daughter. That progressed to running Tough Mudder events and eventually Worlds Toughest Mudder, 24hr. OCR. Training for just obstacles wasn't helping me get from one to the next so I started running. I believe anything worth doing is worth overdoing so I signed up for the SLO Marathon and hated every miserable minute of it

Gabe Zavala

My name is Gabe Zavala i’m from San Luis Obispo California I am a father of three boys and one girl I love backpacking trail running mountain biking spending time with my family my goals is all we do is run ambassador are to help, motivate, and be of service to my community

Adelina Zylker

What’s your name? Adelina Zylker

Where are you from? Born in Santa Barbara, grew up near Auburn, lived in Colorado then Texas now back in Southern California

What’s your story?

I’ve been a lifelong athlete but I didn’t start running until after my first son was born to get back into shape. For many years I ran for fitness, not really loving it but knowing it was good for both my mental

Clint Welch

What’s your name? Clint Welch

Where are you from? The country! 45 minutes south/east of

Sacramento, CA. Cattle country.

What’s your story? Grew up outside riding horses in the foothills

of the Sierra Nevadas. Started running with my mom as a kid just

for fun. Rediscovered it around 30 and haven’t looked back. Used

to run lots of distances, mostly ultras. Now I just run for fun and

enter races

Steven Youngblood

What's your name? Steven Youngblood

Where are you from? Santa Maria, California

What's your story? I have a passion for running, love for trails, and pride for the central coast. I began running in high school. Fast forward to today, and I am coaching high school runners. I have coached cross country and track in Santa Maria since 2015, and my goal for the student-athletes has alwa

Tim Hackett

What’s your name? Tim Hackett

Where are you from? Burlington, VT originally, but have lived in Arizona (currently Mesa) a very long time.

What’s your story? Desk jockey and pack a day smoker from 20-40. After a Boy Scout backpacking trip with my son in 2010 (4 years after quitting smoking) almost killed me, I realized I needed to make more changes and took up running. Signed up for a ha