About Me
Reach the Beach 2017 - My first Ragnar medal
Hey there, folks! My name is Chad. I’m originally from Canada and now live in Massachusetts, where I write technical documentation for a software company. I also run from time to time.
I wasn’t a runner in my younger days. I didn’t start running until 2013 at the tender age of 33. I picked a goal race and started a Couch-to-10K program. It went reasonably well, and I kept running somewhat regularly.
The next year, I ran an 8K race around Stanley Park in Vancouver. About a month before that race, I told my friend that, if I did the 8K in under 48 minutes, I would run the Vancouver Half-Marathon a few months later. My result? — 47:57.
Being the honest and upstanding man that I am, I ran my first half-marathon in the summer of 2014. I have since run two more half-marathons, both at Baystate.
Shortly after the Vancouver Half-Marathon, I moved to Massachusetts. For a variety of reasons (mostly laziness), I didn’t run very much for a couple years. However, in 2016, I vowed to get back on the running train. I even joined the Greater Framingham Running Club (GFRC) to help keep me motivated to run.
It was through the GFRC that I ran my first Ragnar relay — Reach the Beach 2017. I had an amazing time, despite the sore legs and lack of sleep, and I vowed that would continue to run that race.
Early the next year, I met up with a crew of runners from work who ran Ragnar relays as charity fundraisers for The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. I ended up joining the ranks of the Fast and the Fouriers, and I ran my first race for Camp — Ragnar Cape Cod 2018.
Ragnar Cape Cod 2018 - My first ever race for Camp (that’s me in the back with the purple headband)
Ragnar Great Midwest 2019 - Nighttime exchange with the trademark Fast and the Fouriers exchange hug
To date, I have run Reach the Beach three times, done two other Ragnar relays (Cape Cod and Great Midwest), and ran the Peak 2 Brew relay in the Adirondacks. All the while, raising money for Camp has given our merry little band of runners drive and purpose — We like to think of ourselves as a charitable organization that occasionally runs together.
Then, earlier this year, a little voice popped into my head — “Hey, Chad, remember that Ragnar Immortal Medal you read about? Wouldn’t it be fun to do that and raise money for Camp at the same time?”
Call it a mid-life crisis (I turn 40 next year). Call it crazy (it kinda is). But, I made the decision to dive into this adventure. With the help of my fellow Fast Fouriers, my GFRC friends, and maybe even some of you out there, I will come through the other side of 2020 with a giant chest-sized slab of a medal and, hopefully, a giant pile of money to help send some seriously ill kids to Camp!
If you want to help me “raise a little hell” and make this whole endeavor the success I hope it can be, please head on over to the Get Involved page.