Meet the Team - Heather Hunt

Strava Track Club members are engaged in a wide variety of vocational and other pursuits in addition to their running. Find out more about our team in our new weekly feature, Meet the Team.  This week's female athlete is a two time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier, who joined our team when her active duty military husband was stationed in Monterey, California.  After a few years here, service took their family to Fort Sumter, South Carolina, where she has begun her latest competitive chapter as a masters athlete.  Meet Heather Hunt. 

Hi.  My name is Heather (Vande Brake) Hunt and I was born and raised at the foot of the Rockies in Englewood, CO.  I was blessed to have supportive, caring parents who let me try every activity under the sun when I was a kid, so I could explore all the options of what life has to offer.  Turns out I was able to excel at many things, but running always rose to the surface.  As a kid, soccer was my first love, but nobody beat down my door in high school for soccer scholarships to college.  It’s okay.  God had a great plan for me to run in college and for many years to come.  

In 1992, I packed my bags and traveled to Greenville, SC to my college dorm room at Furman University.  Coach Gene Mullin was my first recruiter.  Turns out he would convince me to come and run as a Paladin.  I had a happy and successful career at Furman.  I was able to set many school records in both cross country and track.  I traveled to Canada for the Jr. Pan Am Games as a freshman.  I captained the team for three years, won several Southern Conference titles and left with no injuries, no burn out, no negativity towards running whatsoever.  In fact, when I left FU, my best running still lay ahead.

In 2000, my husband and I were visiting his family in Columbia SC and I happened to enter the 5k race as part of the Olympic Women’s Marathon Trials held there that year.  Once my race was over, we stayed to watch the women compete.  I knew nothing about the Trials race or process for choosing Olympians at that time.  But I did know that I had it in me to run like they did.  And I’m grateful to God to be able to say that I’ve competed in two Olympic Marathon trials in my career:  2004 and 2008.  It was a great experience for me and one I hoped to do a third time in 2012 (but had a baby instead).

Last month, I competed in my first marathon since the 2008 Olympic Trials.  I ran the Disney Marathon in 2:54 for 2nd place.  It was a good day.  I had hoped to skirt under the 2:50 mark, but think some “rookie" mistakes and less than perfect course conditions made the race a tougher pill to swallow.  It was also my first marathon where my training was not at altitude.  I (re)learned a lot and hope to have a marathon or two still left in me before the wheels totally come off.

Currently, I’m crossing new ground as a master’s division competitor.  That means I’m getting older, wearing down, slowing up.  But happily, God continues to provide opportunities to train and race as a healthy, strong, and blessed wife and mama of four (plus an exchange student living with us from China).  My husband cheers me on/watches the kids, my friends act interested when I tell them of my exploits, and I find the time to hit the treadmill between toddler naps, school pick-up and cooking dinner for seven.  I would not change a thing!  I pray for many more years of joyful, healthy running and hope the same for you.  God is my strength and my daily training partner.  I give Him the credit for all the goodness in my life.

Meet the Team - Billy Mateker

Strava Track Club members are engaged in a wide variety of vocational and other pursuits in addition to their running. Find out more about our team in our new weekly feature, Meet the Team.  This week's male athlete is Atlanta, Georgia native, Georgia Tech alum, and current Stanford graduate student, Billy Mateker. 

Billy (in purple), some friends, and a dolphin....

            The question I probably get asked the most about running is “Why?” Sometimes it’s from someone I just met, who asks aloud why anyone would want to run a marathon. Other times it’s from my mom, who wonders why I still spend so much time running (immediately followed by “Are you eating enough?” and, more pressingly, “When are you going to get married and give me grandchildren?”).  I think it’s a question that a lot of us are asked, and I understand that there are many, many valid responses. Truthfully, “Because I like to” is the only reason anyone should ever need. I’ve put some thought into it, and, though it’s true I run because I like to, I went ahead and asked myself the obvious follow-up question “But why do you like to run?” This is what I came up with, grouped into three main categories (I apologize if the engineer in me is overwhelmingly logical and organized!):

1.     Running connects me to myself.

Ok that sounds nonsensical, but let me explain. What I mean is that running helps me stay in tune with myself and be a better individual. I literally feel better physically, mentally, and spiritually when I’m able to get out for a double or run 70 miles a week. Running fast is fun. Racing provides an outlet for my sometimes hypercompetitive personality. The long-term goals of training give me perspective, and the occasional failures (for instance, a DFL at the ACC cross-country meet) keep me resilient. Mostly, the daily accomplishment of going out for a run is empowering. It’s kept me sane through 5 years of grad school (yes, I’m in the 21st grade!). Oh, and the carbs. I love those, and running definitely connects me to those.

2.     Running connects me to my surroundings.

Wherever I am, I love going out for an exploratory run! There is no better way to learn a new city or location. Looking back at my Strava heat map reminded me of the fun I’ve had running through Atlanta, Chicago, San Diego, Houston, New Orleans, Washington D.C. and even Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. Closer to home, I like to joke that I know every public bathroom within a 5 mile radius of Stanford campus or my neighborhood in San Jose. But seriously, I know how to get around.

My connection isn’t limited to the streets I run on and the buildings I run by, though I do most of my daily runs on roads and sidewalks. At least once a week I try to hit some trails and reconnect a bit with nature. The Bay Area is simply incredible, and I’m super lucky to live here, as the natural surroundings are beautiful. One of my favorite long runs in the past year was a brutal 18 miler that started in Milbrae. We climbed up to the mountain ridge that separates the Bay from the ocean and were rewarded with panoramic views of the entire Bay to our right and the Pacific Ocean to our left. At the marker where the Spanish explorer Portola supposedly first saw the Bay, I felt like I could imagine the feeling he must have had with such a view. After descending towards Pacifica, we ran a few miles along the ocean before climbing over the ridgeline again and heading home. That type of feeling and scenery make a 2 hour run so worth it.

3.     Running connects me to my community

While it’s true that I spend a lot of time running by myself, running connects me to the community in ways I never could imagine. When I see someone running around Stanford or home, my first instinct is to ask myself “Do I know this person?” and, after living here 5 years, the answer is often “Yes!” But the connection runs deeper than superficial recognition. Running connects me to my community in ways that have resulted in both personal gain and personal enrichment.

Even in professional settings completely outside of running, runners have a way of finding each other in the crowd. A couple of years ago, I gave a presentation at a scientific conference in place of my graduate school advisor. As a presenter, I was invited to dinner that evening. I was the only student, as all the other presenters that day were professors. Somehow, within 30 minutes, two professors (one was a department chair at a large university!) and I were swapping college running stories and races we had done! I had an instant connection, and I still see and chat with those two professors at various conferences throughout the year.

Most importantly, running has connected me to some of my best friends and most influential mentors. I’ve literally run thousands of miles with certain individuals, which creates a very strong bond. When I visit Georgia every year over winter break, I run with some of my high school teammates. I lived with one of my college teammates (and later, his fiancée, then wife!) for five of the last seven years, both in Atlanta and California. The morning of their wedding, a bunch of us entered a local 5k to celebrate. My college teammates and I have an ongoing email chain that has now spanned 5 years. And it continues on STC. I’ve gone on spontaneous 10-hour road trips to Oregon, summited mountains in Tahoe, and spent Thanksgiving in Vegas with some of my STC teammates. Post-race beers or brunch after long runs are my favorites (again, back to the carbs!).

So there it is. That’s why I still go on 20-mile long runs. It helps me operate at a high level, keeps me in touch with my surroundings, and, all told, the running community of which I am a part is central to my life. And I’m always happy to see it expand, which is why I’m very excited to partner with Strava this year. Happy running everyone!

Meet the Team - Chandler Kemp

Strava Track Club members are engaged in a wide variety of vocational and other pursuits in addition to their running. Find out more about our team in our new weekly feature, Meet the Team.  This week's athlete is Haines, Alaska native, Cornell alum, and current Stanford graduate student, Chandler Kemp. 

I love running with Strava Track Club because it provides like-minded training partners who are passionate about running and simultaneously pursuing other ambitions. I'm currently a graduate student studying Energy Resource Engineering, trying to reform the way energy resources are exploited. I run simply because it makes me happy. No matter what's happening in my life, an hour spent easy running on a trail or through a neighborhood makes my day better. Getting on the track and running fast every week reminds me what it feels like to do physical work; and racing gives me a chance to cut loose and be competitive. In the face of an office job and pleasantries, running keeps me wild!

I started running with my mom when I was around 8 years old. I grew up in a small town in Southeast Alaska that's blessed with incredible mountains and mind-blowing beauty. Running is a wonderful way to explore that place, and being fit makes it a fun town to call home. Since leaving home seven years ago, I've carried running with me everywhere I go. I spent four years living in Ithaca, NY, and found constant joy in running along the gorges and through the beautiful autumn colors of the East Coast. During a winter in Fairbanks, Alaska I had great adventures running under the northern lights on roughly groomed dog mushing trails; those frolics through the woods kept me excited through dark nights that started shortly after noon. And during three months spent researching rural energy in Borneo, running gave me a chance to see parts of the community that I otherwise never would have discovered. Today, running up the hills in Wunderlich or through the marshes in Baylands keeps me connected to the place I grew up in and reminds me of the joy I find in the outdoors. There are great places to run in the Bay, and that's what keeps me going.