President

Chris’ experience with Boulder Road Runners (BRR) goes back 33 years beginning with racing as a CU Buff in a home meet produced by BRR volunteers. He ran his first BRR Summer All-Comer track meet in 1991 and introduced his two daughters to track, at age 6 and 8, at an BRR All-Comer meet in 2008 (where they ran the 100 and 200 meters).

In 2021, grateful for the many BRR volunteers who produced CU Track and Cross Country Meets, All-Comer meets, and Turkey Trots, Chris (and Todd Straka) decided Boulder Road Runners was the right place to build a Men’s 50 Masters racing team. In 2021, Chris helped the teams develop a new race kit and Colorado color palette to represent the Club in USATF State and National competitions. He helped the BRR Board start work on a new three-year plan, signed sponsors for the club’s Mile High Mile, and started identifying team coordinators for new women’s teams and a men’s age 40-49 team.

Professionally, Chris has 20+ years of executive leadership and Board experience serving in CEO, COO, and GM roles working in marketing and advertising data, technology, and services. Chris’ expertise includes guiding organizations through turn-around and high growth stages with a deep focus on strategy, building high-performing teams, and disciplined planning and execution. Chris also serves on the Advisory Board of the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring Marines by educating their children.

Chris is a Colorado native. He has run the Bolder Boulder 33 times. Before running for Boulder Road Runners, he represented Fort Collins High School and the CU Buffs. He would claim to have made the Steeplechase cool at CU before Billy, Steve, Jenny, Emma, and Val but knows Dan Reese would rightfully call him out on it. Youngest daughter Joelle, whose aforementioned debut in track at age 6 was at a BRR All-Comer meet, now runs for the CU Buffs as well.

Todd is a long time Boulder Road Runner member often renewing his membership at the annual turkey trot as it was a way to save $5 on the race. He has been involved with the board over the last 3 years and has also been the Meet Director for the Summer All-Comers meets for the last 3 years. He loves the community aspects that are growing with the summer track series and with the growing masters teams and shares a vision for building the club back to one of the premier clubs in the country.

Member of the Master M50 Team. Living in Boulder since 2019. Working at Medtronic (medical technology) as VP Supply Chain. Experienced in financial controls and budget mgt.

Membership

 I joined the BRR after meeting a character named Verne Carlson, in Athens, Greece. We were both there for the marathon. I joined that November, 1995. I knew about the BRR back in 1979, when a friend talked me into running this new 10k event in Boulder. The announcer was this bearded guy named Castro. (?) I have run almost all of the annual BB runs.

As time passed I offered to help with the High Five, Turkey Trot and Earth Day runs and other events. I marshaled, distributed flyers door to door, picked up trash, helped at water stations and anything else so the event would be memorable for the runners.

The connection between the BRR and the Bolder Boulder sucked me in. I have severed in numerous capacities from courier, marshaling and split timer.

In 2010 First Monday at the 0ld Avery. Rich Castro stepped away from leadership. When the need for a new president became apparent, everyone else stepped back, and I was slow to move. Ruth Wright nominated me and Lorraine Green seconded, it sounded unanimous, but no one audited the vote.

Dan Pierce, as vp., introduced me to the idea of being a USATF official. With Dan’s invaluable helped, we promoted this idea to club members. I don’t know the current numbers, but we are a sizable part of CU’s officials’ staff. With Dan’s guidance, I began volunteering at our track meets. Over time my role increased.

As president, I also got to know Don Janicki. He raised the stakes of my BB volunteering by taking me on as an assistant for the BB pro race. Hopefully we will be able to continue work this spring.

I took a vacation after the presidency. Came back to work membership. Connie Harmon, after 40 years passed the torch to me.

I certainly have made mistakes, and oversights but also some good very things for the club. My heart is in the right place. I want this club to survive and thrive.

Lorraine has been a member of the Boulder Road Runners since 1982. She met her husband Woody Green at a fun run!

Lorraine has served on many past Board of Directors in the capacity of Secretary, Vice President and is now running for her second at large position..

Lorraine brings her experience of 30 plus years of Track and Field experience to the BRR. She has served as the starter for the BRR summer track meets since its inception. Lorraine has been active in captaining many BRR cross country teams that have competed In the USATF CC Nationals. She still runs on BRR teams whenever possible. She is now a National class age group triathlete and has proudly represented the US in three World Championships and is and anticipating a fourth Worlds competition in Montreal, in June.

Tim is a late bloomer runner, that took up racing as a way to motivate himself to exercise at the age of 55. In his twenties he did some 5ks and short triathlons. In 2020, he moved from Minnesota to Arvada to be closer to mountain trails and the endurance community while continuing his career at CU Anschutz as directing a newly formed Research Imaging Center. He likes taking on new challenges in various endurance sports and is most at home doing ultras but wants to keep his gnarly looking toes also in some faster shorter road races too.

He appreciates all the camaraderie within BRR as well as the coaching from Lee Troop. Boulder is a fabulous place to be near!

Deborah Conley is a Colorado native, and former University of Colorado runner. She was a member of the first women’s Cross Country team to win a conference title. She also was a member of the first women’s CU Team to win a National Collegiate Triathlon Championship. As a master runner, she has been on multiple Cross Country teams that have medaled at USATF Cross Country National Championships and USATF National Club Cross Country Championships.

Her numerous awards include: (2020) Member of the Class of Colorado Running Hall of Fame, (2012) Pacesetter Award in appreciation of contributions in the field of Quality of Life presented by Daily Camera, (2012) Boulder Chamber of Commerce Women Who Light the Community, and (2013) Sportswoman of Colorado-Dorothy Mauk Pioneer Award in recognition for developing the sport of VI running.

She is the president and founder of Lending Sight, a company that develops and distributes products to help visually impaires athletes products for running and swimming. She serves as President of the Board of Directors for Center for People With Disabilities, a non-profit with a yearly budget of approximately 3 million. She is entering her 10th year of service for CPWD. She is on the local organizing committee for United Move Jr. National Championship to be held in Colorado July 2022. This is a week-long competition for para disabled athletes aged 22 and under in the following sports: track and field, long and short course swimming, triathlon, archery, shooting, powerlifting, and wheelchair tennis.

“I would like to be a part of moving forward Boulder Road Runners to be more inclusive, community involved and a resource for developing athletes of all ages and abilities.”

Dan has spent most his life in Denver and Boulder and has been passionate about running just as long. As an athlete at Wheat Ridge High School Dan won State in the 3200 meters his Senior year and decided to pursue his running and academic career at CU. Dan was a 3 time All-American, Team Captain and a 2019 Inductee into the CU Hall of Fame. After graduating from CU Dan continued his Olympic Dream and made 13 National Teams including 2 Pan Am teams and the World Cross Country team. Dan was a bonze medalist in 1995 at the Pan American Games in Argentina in the 3000m steeplechase and was ranked in the Top 10 in Track & Field News 8 consecutive years. Dan also helped orchestrate and grow the USWest Track Club with former CU coach Mike Gilbert and long time Boulder Road Runner Jack Beattie. This elite club afforded athletes like Dan the ability to pursue the passion of running while learning real job skills at a Fortune 100 Company. This was one of the first programs of its kind and was eventually mimicked by companies like Home Depot and the Olympic Job Opportunities Program.

Dan also returned to his roots by coaching Wheat Ridge High School in Track and Cross Country where he earned coach of the year and had 7 individual state champs including the first female High School runner to win 4 cross country titles in the largest school classifications. Dan is also a 2010 Class of the Colorado Running Hall of Fame.

Dan has stayed close to the sport and has mentored dozens of Colorado athletics in search of their dream school. Dan has helped place athletes at University of Washington, Stanford, CU, Willamette, Santa Clara, Air Force, Duke, Wyoming and CSU just to name a few. Dan also coached Dan King when Dan won the CEO Challenge and when Dan was just starting to establish himself as one to the world’s premier Master’s runners.

Dan has spent his career building high performance Sales and Account Management teams and is currently Chief Revenue Officer at CanSource, a Boulder County company that has been listed on the Inc5000 list 5 years in a row.