Q: When did you first join R4R and how did you learn about us?
A: I first learned about R4R about 10 years ago when I was training with Fleet Feet in a Couch to 5K program, that led to my first Shamrock’n half marathon in 2015. Everywhere we trained I saw a mob of baby blue, and at the races I saw an even bigger group having a great time and clearly enjoying being there together. After moving from Sacramento to Elk Grove in 2024 I was depressed and feeling disconnected and disoriented, despite having grown up in the area and only having moved a short distance. I have a list of “things I used to love” that I created in 2019 that I dug up periodically to try to snap myself out of it when I felt stuck. “Running, Walking, Hiking, Kayaking, Nature, Volunteering, Yoga, Restaurants/Cafes, Cycling…” were all very high on the list. I hopped on Meetup to find all the things I knew the Fleet Feet groups wouldn’t have, thinking I was going to have to join a whole lot of groups to figure this out. I immediately recognized the baby blue, and when I saw events from practically my entire top 10 activities, I knew I had to try this group first. I came to my first Walk and Woof at the end of December in 2024.
Q: What’s your very favorite “Movin’ into Life” activity?
A: Wow, ok that’s a hard because there are so many choices, and all of them are interwoven with a social connection and a true sense of purpose that imbues them all with something very special. It’s an element that makes a simple walk and a coffee on a Saturday morning something far more impactful than it seems on the surface. But let’s go with snowshoeing because it’s recent. I’d never done it as an adult and I was sure I was going to be terrible at it. Instead, I had the best day ever and found out I am pretty decent at it. I spent the ride home with Randy and Beth buying used snowshoes off eBay from the backseat.
Q: What has been your most unusual or interesting job?
A: I’ve had some great experiences with my first career in insurance or my lifetime career in information technology… but lets face it I just said said insurance and technology and your brain shut down to brave the dullness…so I will go with babysitting Philip and Kenny Jackman when I was 14 or 15 growing up in Rosemont. I knew the Jackmans from the Rosemont Youth Soccer league where I’d played, coached and referee’d. That’s also how I knew the Seevers family, having been on teams with Randy’s younger sister Lori.
Q: How do you like to spend your free time? Any hobbies of note?
A: Being connected to Gina and Felicia spurred a reinterest in kayaking, which led to me volunteering as a paddle guide at the Cosumnes River Preserve, which lead to me making meaningful connections in the local paddle community and in the other local preserves. It’s brought me an active connection with a side of myself I hadn’t seen in a long time.
Q: What’s something most people don’t know about you?
A: I have volunteered to broil myself in the hot sun while 6 cranky camels came flying at me, trying to dislodge their jockeys. As a result I can also tell you the fastest route to Washoe Medical Center from Virginia City. There are things one shouldn’t do for charity fundraisers and should be a limit on family togetherness, I’m just sayin’…
Q: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?
A: That’s hard to say… I’d love to revisit Europe and capture the difference in myself and my point of view compared to a 3 month backpacking trip about 20 years ago but there’s also so many places I haven’t been. It seems a crime to repeat something when there’s so much I have yet to see.
Q: What has been your proudest moment since being a part of the R4R family?
A: Such a tossup. Possibly being a course monitor at the Run Because You Can events where you see the larger purpose of the organization at work in the community. Seeing 3000 families coming together to experience the event and seeing the joy on each kid’s face is a thrill.
But there’s also this everyday occurrence to think about. Every Saturday I wander around Elk Grove after our R4R meetup to do errands at the farmers market, Home Depot, Old Navy, Nugget etc., still in my blue crew jersey. People go out of their way to stop me and to tell me much the program meant to them as a kid, or how much their child loved it, and they are always beaming and happy to hear that the youth program is thriving. You just can’t beat that feeling.
Q: If you were a vegetable, what would you be and why?
A: Not gonna lie, this one may be why I got my answers in late. No longer a potato at least?
Q: How would you describe your Runnin’ for Rhett experience to a child?
A: Find friends, meet dogs, laugh in the sunshine and see how far you can fly.
