Ambassadors

Meet our 2018 LaceUp Running Series Ambassadors

Nichole Huapaya

Nichole Huapaya

Favorite Distance: 10K

Memorable Moment: Finishing the OC Half Marathon after suffering an injury at mile 7.

Hobbies: She is a total foodie and wine and beer enthusiast.

Christal Ryles

Christal Ryles

Biggest Achievement: Becoming a pacer for BlacklistLA, a local running group.

Hobbies: Yoga and her blog “Christal Lauren.”

Fun Fact: Before running, she practiced dance and drill.

Kristin Morris

Kristin Morris

Memorable Moment: Running the Great Wall of China Half Marathon in 2017

Bucket List Race: London Marathon

Hobbies: She loves reading and averages 2-3 books a month!

Teon Taylor

Teon Taylor

Memorable Moment: Being part of a first-place Ragnar team

Bucket List: Complete an international race…or three.

Fun Fact: He is a trombonist!

Megan Huston

Megan Huston

Biggest Achievement: A 33-minute marathon PR at the 2016 OC Marathon

Bucket List: Running the Budapest Marathon, completing a half marathon in each state, and to qualify for Boston.

Fun Fact: Megan lost her last baby tooth at the age of 31!  

Richard Maya

Favorite Distance: Half Marathon

Biggest Achievement: Completing 66 races in 2015–including 40 half marathons and 8 marathons! He will be completing his 200th half marathon this year.

Fun Fact: Richard’s one and only tattoo is the Apple logo. He calls himself a customer for life.

Brett Copeland

Brett Copeland

Memorable Moment: Organizing and running a half marathon while deployed in Djibouti.

Bucket List: Boston Marathon

Hobbies: He’s a beer enthusiast and has sampled over 3200 different beers, and counting!

Victor Hurtado 2

Victor Hurtado

Favorite Distance: Half Marathon

Biggest Achievement: He raced both the 5K and 10K at the Santa Rosa Marathon and paced the 3:03 marathon group the next morning.

Bucket List: Running the Chicago and New York City marathons since he will be running Boston this year.

Dorothy Ely

Dorothy Ely

Favorite Distance: 5K

Memorable Moment: Finishing her first marathon on her 31st birthday at the Ventura Marathon

Bucket List: Run the LA Marathon

Charlotte Cochran

Charlotte Cochran

Biggest Achievement: Finishing the challenging Bulldog 50K.

Bucket List: New York Marathon (she has her fingers crossed that the lottery is on her side).

Hobbies: Weightlifting
Alexandra Veloz

Ally Veloz

Favorite Distance: Half Marathon and 10K

Fun Fact: She dresses up as a Christmas elf at the Riverside Reindeer Run every year.

Hobbies: Camping with her husband and husky dog, playing guitar, and singing.

Maria Busta Groove

Maria “Busta” Groove

Favorite Distance: Half Marathon

Passions: Social activism

Hobbies: Meeting new runners and making new friends.

Thavee Nantarojanaporn

Thavee Nantarjanaporn

Memorable Moment: Running the Chicago Marathon

Bucket List: Thavee wants to compete in all of the world major marathons.

Hobbies: Hiking and golf.

Ernie Estrada

Ernie Estrada

Biggest Achievement: He ran his first ultra Marathon earlier this year; 50 miles in 15 hours!

Bucket List: Xterra Nationals and Internationals

Hobbies: Playing hockey and spending time with his two grandsons.

Tessa Jennings

Tessa Jennings

Memorable Moment: Completing her first half marathon

Bucket List: Running the San Francisco Marathon

Hobbies: She is a huge baseball fan and wants to see a game at every Major League stadium.

Mahesh Sethuraman

Mahesh Sethuraman

Biggest Achievement: Finishing the Carlsbad 5000 in under 7 min/mile.

Bucket List: Running the LA Marathon

Fun Fact: He can speak 5 different languages: English, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi and Russian.

Vinnie Yeung (1)

Vinnie Yeung

Memorable Moment: Completed the RunDisney Avengers Challenge (Half Marathon and 10K),  just to fly to Las Vegas and run the Rock and Roll Half Marathon the same night. Back-to-back half marathons.

Fun Fact: Vinnie runs every race in a homemade costume.

Hobbies: She is a huge NFL fan and a major sci-fi geek.

Version 2

Edward Kasper

Biggest Achievement: Running 101 miles in the month of February for RunRangerRun, an event supporting veterans.

Hobbies: Playing music with his band

Fun Fact: In addition to being a musician, Edward is also an actor and police officer.

Krista Roe

Krista Roe

Memorable Moment: A 7-minute PR and sub 2 half marathon in San Diego.

Bucket List: Run races in Vancouver, Hawaii and New York

Fun Fact: She swam competitively for 10 years and loves being in the water.

Sarah Presley

Sarah Presley

Favorite Distance: Half Marathon

Biggest Achievement: Running more than 100 half marathons since surviving a brain aneurysm rupture in 2012.

Bucket List: Sarah wants to complete a marathon in all 50 states and Washington D.C.

Esther Park

Esther Park

Favorite Distance: Marathon

Memorable Moment: Esther completed a 200-mile adventure run across Haiti in efforts to raise awareness/funds to end extreme poverty.

Bucket List: Western States Endurance Run.
Linzie Starr

Linzie Starr

Memorable Moment: Running the Boston Marathon 3 times for charity raising more than $15,000.

Bucket List: Tokyo Marathon

Fun Fact: He claims to moonlight as a unicorn on Wednesday nights (we don’t have proof yet).

Min Park

Min Park

Biggest Achievement: Min has 7 marathons planned for 2018

Bucket List: All 6 world major marathons.

Fun Fact: He has an obsession with matcha.

Nancy Fernandez

Nancy Fernandez

Memorable Moment: Running her first marathon in Honolulu

Bucket List: Complete a race in every state

Fun Fact: Nancy is an ambassador for Black Girls Run.

Ambassador applications are closed for 2018. Check back next season if you’re interested in applying.