Richie started working at TRANSPORTS in Janurary of 1996 during his last semester at UC Berkeley and never looked back. He ran track professionally for a few years after graduation, and competed all over the US, Europe, and Japan. Now, he runs marathons for fun, and is on his way to completing every major marathon in California. Richie also leads the TRANSPORTS Wednesday Night Runs. When he's not running, he enjoys working at the store.
Steph's first introduction to running came through getting into shape for other outdoor activities such hiking, kayaking, and trekking. She started running track in high school, when she realized through trial and error that the hand-eye coordination required for many other athletic pursuits was beyond her (limited) capacity; she ran the 400m and 800m with her team and she enjoyed her track career immensely! A recent arrival to the Bay Area from the Great White North (Canada), Steph splits her time between TRANSPORTS and doing political education with an activist collective in San Francisco. She is looking forward to exploring the trails in the area, and is currently training for her first half marathon in July- wish her luck!.
After spending most of his life in the sultry heat and humidity of the southeast, Sam has been steadily moving West since graduating from college in South Carolina. After a brief stint in Colorado, he moved to Berkeley to attend graduate school at Cal. TRANSPORTS is the fourth running store he has worked at. (Yes, he’s clearly obsessed). Sam is hoping to run some fast marathons over the next few years without getting kicked out of his grad program for spending more time training then studying. You can find him either out running in the East Bay hills or in a campus library feverishly reading through caffeinated eyes.
Chelsea is a renaissance kind of girl. A lover of the arts, she has been a ballet dancer since the age of 3 and a soloist in her high school madrigal group. She also loves athletic endeavors, she was a swimmer and a soccer star at age 5. Another passion is Baseball (Red Sox) and football (Patriots) although she's never played for either team. She started running in the 7th grade, trying to keep up with her dad, and she found that she hated it. For some reason, she stuck with it and it all clicked together in 9th grade when she learned she could run really fast. An accomplished runner for Cal's Cross Country and Track & Field teams, she is currently Cal's indoor mile record holder. At a crossroads, Chelsea is conflicted about her future career; she just can't decide between Prima Ballerina and Jedi Knight.
Born and raised in Oakland California, Noah spent his childhood and high school years enjoying the varied pursuits of soccer, swimming, and tennis. He has spent many years traveling and working all over the world; including a couple of years in Antarctica where the only place to run was a treadmill. A real challenge for someone who simply cannot miss a workout. He’s glad to be back in the Bay where it’s possible to actually run outside. Most recently, Noah has found a home in the sport of triathlon where he competes for the Cal Tri team.
During college, Jacob agreed to train for a marathon with a friend, not imagining that he’d actually go through with it. But over four months of training, he discovered he loved distance running almost as much as he loved bragging about it, and after that first race, he was hooked on the sport. A graduate of Duke University, he also works as a freelance writer. He met his wife while they were both working at a running store in North Carolina. They live in Berkeley with their dog Aston, an exercise freak who makes sure they never miss a workout.
Angela ran Track & Field for her hometown's Alameda High School Hornets. Her events were the High Jump ("it was fun, but I couldn't jump very high"), 400m, 800m, 4X100 relay, and was part of a school record setting 4X8. Even though she excelled at Track & Field, her true love is dance. Since the age of 5 she could be found dancing on-stage somewhere. Her dance troop once performed at Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. "It was great, we got free admission to the park for a week." A sociology major at St. Mary's College, Angela has found studying to be a necessary hindrance to her dance career.
After spending the 80's in the aerobics studios for hours and hours teaching classes, then getting married to the love of her life and having three boys in 4 years in the 90's, Lauri found running! She dabbled in 10k and 5k runs a couple of times a year, then took the leap and signed up for her first Marathon. She ran the San Francisco Marathon in 2008, then became a pacer for the San Francisco Marathon Training program in 2009. She continues to pace for the San Francisco Marathon Training Program and loves running with a group! How else can you legitimately get out of the house and away from chores on a Saturday morning, then come home and park on the sofa? Favorite saying to skeptical newbie runners...."if I can run a marathon, anyone can!"
Forrest is proud to be a Berkeley native son. His athletic career began with soccer, which he started playing long before he could spell it. Like so many runners, he took up running to stay in shape for soccer and found that he loved it. He ran Cross-County and Track throughout high school, where he specialized in the 800m and 1600m. After a brief stint at the University of Oregon, Forrest is back in his old stomping grounds where he enjoys "a classy burrito and going for long walks on the beach.”
Stephanie grew up running and swimming in the Arizona desert. A miler in high school, she was the AZ state champ in the 1600m - and went on to compete for the Cal Golden Bears in both XC and track. She's added cycling to her repertoire and is now fully ensconced in the world of triathlons. Her real challenge is finding enough time to train since she spends most of her waking hours chasing after her kids.
Matt started running as a mere youngster in an effort to keep up with his parents, who were inspired by Kenneth Cooper’s famous book on Aerobics. His first pair of running shoes: Nike Wally Waffles. A high school Cross Country and Track & Field athlete in Ohio, Matt excelled at the distance events and Pole Vault. He completed his first marathon a few years ago in Chicago and decided that he could run "farther but not faster" so he decided to give Ultra Marathons a try. He earned a bronze belt buckle by completing the Western States 100 Mile run in under 30 hours. He admits to having buckle fever and would like to do the Western States 100 again………. someday......... maybe.
Ala recently retired from the U.S. Rowing team and is now enjoying other pursuits of running, cycling, swimming, and, occasionally, simply doing nothing. She currently belongs to a local running club and a local Masters swim group (to prevent that last pursuit from dominating). She hails from New Hampshire, though her rowing career has brought her through all the lower 48 states of the U.S. and some parts of Europe, and currently resides in the Temescal district of Oakland.
Francis played soccer, basketball, and baseball throughout his youth and only started running cross country his junior year of high school. “To get in shape for soccer.” That XC season was followed by a stint on the track team and the rest is history. After high school, Francis went to City College of San Francisco where he won the 800 meter state championship 2 years in row. He then transferred to Cal and became an NCAA Indoor All-American. Francis is also the premier wakeboarder among his TRANSPORTS co-workers.
Maja, a native of Bosnia, arrived in the U.S. in the 7th grade and began her illustrious running career. Being new to the country and not being able to speak English, she found comfort in running. Since then she has competed at the highest level for UC Berkeley in both Track & Field and Cross-Country. An up-and-coming young artist, Maja now mostly runs for fun when she can squeeze it in between studio time and sleep.
Bev has been running since her high school days, when her volleyball coach would make her run in 100+ degree weather in the Central Valley. Since being traumatized, the thought of running for fun did not come easily. She now tolerates it by making it a social activity, running with a group in Piedmont on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings. Following her most recent marathon she has found the water a more natural habitat. Her Masters group keeps her swimming up, although it is harder to visit while doing a swim workout.
Frank started out as a swimmer, dating all the way back to the “8 and under” age group days and continued competing through high school. In college he spent a great deal of time sitting on the bench for his water polo squad. He's stared at the black line on the bottom of the pool so much that it's permanently imprinted on his brain. Currently he spends more time running miles than swimming laps. With a couple of marathons under his belt, you can usually find him running somewhere out in Contra Costa County. Frank sez “I’m living proof that you can run in slow motion and still have fun!”
Kei started running in high school to stay in shape for outdoor pursuits such as backpacking and climbing. At the insistence of co-workers at Berkeley Bowl, he ran his first Bay to Breakers in 1977, and has been running road races ever since. Always the gear head, Kei opened TRANSPORTS in 1982 so that he could tell the manufacturers what was wrong with their shoes. He is also trying to keep up with Richie’s California marathons feat although it takes him twice as long to run them. Now with his kids running in high school, Kei is a huge fan of high school cross-country and track.