Kendra moved to Pacifica 7 years ago with her husband, John and two daughters, Kaley, 17 and Kennedy, 14. Kendra had never run before and a friend signed her up for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in 2008. The best advice surprised her - it is OK to walk; you just need to start running again.

Her running sparked an interest with her brother, and they ran their first marathons together, the San Francisco Marathon, in 2009. She recently finished her 10^th marathon at Big Sur. She enjoys adding races to her many travels. Two years ago, she started obstacle course racing, she finished 3 races in 2 days in the most beautiful mountains of Italy last year. She has a Spartan Season Pass and plans to do 15 Spartan races, in addition to the Folsom triathlon in July, cycling races and many road races.

She enjoys running with her 2 daughters including many 5Ks, the Hazelnut 7K, and 10K Tinker Bell run in Disneyland. She is trying to teach them how important health and wellness is even at a young age.

The best part about running for Kendra is finding someone who is interested in running, pushing them to the next level and witnessing their excitement in achieving a goal they never thought possible.

Shortly after moving to Pacifica from San Francisco with her family in 2000, Ami discovered that hiking and jogging the many trails was a perfect way to relieve stress after a busy day at work. Having hardly any running experience, Ami began a couch to 5k program and ran her first 5K at the Academy of Sciences Run To The Far Side” in 2004. After crossing that first finish line, she caught the “bug” and was hooked!

Ami, subsequently, ran dozens of races ranging from 5Ks to 12Ks such as San Francisco’s own Bay To Breakers. In 2007, however, she was sidelined with IT Band Syndrome for 6 months. That’s when she discovered the importance of proper training. By adding resistance and stretching exercises to her running program, she noticed obvious improvements. In 2008, she ran her first Half Marathon pain-free and became certified as a Personal Trainer. She has been helping other runners prevent injury and to find their “inner strong” ever since!

In the following years, Ami was able to improve her half marathon finishing time by 18 minutes. She even completed her first marathon at the California International in 2015. Not only that, she qualified for and ran the Boston Marathon in 2017.

Ami is a certified running coach with Road Runners Club of America and has been a Board Member of Pacifica Runners since 2016.

Currently, Ami is leading the club's Couch to program. This fun 12-week training program is designed to successfully guide participants to the club's Tiki Trot 5K in August.

Fran has been running since 2011 when a work friend encouraged her to run the Chase Corporate Challenge. Using a couch to 5K training plan, she surprised herself and others at work with her finish time. After that, she committed to doing a race about once a month.

Since then, she has run races from 5K's to marathons, including Boston (2016).

Fran has never considered herself an athlete, but believes that if she can do it, anyone can. She loves the multi-faceted aspects of running: improving herself and encouraging others; the comraderie, as well as the alone time running brings her; the peace of an EZ run and the challenge of pushing herself to do more! Fran and her husband moved to Pacifica in 2004. She was a finance professional and is the mother of 2 boys.

Ramona was born and raised in Pacifica, CA. As a child and teenager, she was never really involved in many sports of any kind. Not until she decided to make a lifestyle change in 2013 did she really get into running. After losing weight and becoming much healthier she began running as a daily part of her workout routine and quickly fell in love with it.  Ramona joined Pacifica Runners to help bring friends, family, and the community together to participate in healthy and fun activities. She loves to bring her family out to all the races and wants them to reap the benefits of running and having a healthy lifestyle just as much as she has.

In 2013 Ramona ran her first 5K race and it became addicting. As she became a stronger runner she began training for 10Ks and longer distance runs. She runs the Giants Series races each year along with a few other race series challenges. She also gets out to as many local road races as she can each month on the weekends with friends. In January 2016, she completed her first Half Marathon in Disneyland. After that she started participating in Spartans races and other endurance challenges. Being fit and healthy is a big part of her lifestyle. Running has become her main outlet to combat those daily life stresses that we all face and it brings a lot of joy to her life. When it gets tough she laces up and heads out to the pavement to run it out.

EVENT COORDINATOR - Dara Ditsworth

Dara grew up in sunny L.A., dabbling in sports throughout childhood and running track in high school.  An average 400m runner, she struggled whenever practice turned to cross-country distances, or really anything longer than a mile.

After more than a decade of living on the east coast with a school/work-centric lifestyle that led to seasonal hibernation, it wasn’t until moving to San Diego in 2009 that she rediscovered a love for the outdoors.  After joining a group to train for the La Jolla ½ marathon, she subsequently ‘trained by doing’ – signing up for local 5k, 10k, and trail runs every month. She really caught the running bug after a few seasons of participating in XTERRA’s SoCal trail race series between LA and San Diego.  More than the speed of road races, the trails served a mental challenge to get through miles 8 – 13 after climbing mountains, but proved rewarding with ocean views and a sense of adventure. Her time in San Diego also sparked a love of cycling, participating in duathlons and century rides, and annual fundraising events for local charities.  

Dara moved to the Bay Area in 2018 and was drawn to Pacifica’s coastline and proximity to the city.  She’s eager to meet new friends and contribute to building a community around healthy living, and looks forward to planning some events!

MEMBER ENGAGEMENT - Karen Strong

Karen lives in San Mateo but loves to run in beautiful Pacifica.  She had always walked over her lunch hour and decided one day to start running about 5 years or so ago. About 3 years ago she decided to take it a little more seriously mainly to stay fit. 

Running has been so rewarding for Karen, helping her meet new people and to get through life after becoming a widow in 2016.  In 2018, she ran her first half at the Silicon Valley Half Marathon and has run 3 half marathons and several 10Ks and 5 Ks. 10Ks are her favorite race distance!  She also runs intervals consisting of 60 seconds of running and 30 seconds of walking.  Considered a slower runner, she is proud of being able to run in her 60s! 

She also likes to go to the gym twice a week for strength training and recently joined in on some of the classes at her gym which have been fun!  She has a 31 year old son and works full time and hopes to retire in a few years.  Whenever that happens, she is hoping to continue running throughout her 60s and hopefully well into her 70s.

Karen grew up in Southern California, married in 1984 and moved to the Bay Area yet is still discovering the beauty of the area especially since becoming a runner.  She's always looking for someone to run with at a nice and easy pace! 

PROMOTIONS CO-DIRECTOR - Dorit Betschart

Dorit ran a few races here and there in her young adulthood, but after her second child was born, she began to take running “more seriously”.  To her, that meant finding some friends who would help her become more accountable!  Dorit found those friends and began a Couch to 5K program to restart her progress.  Living in Pacifica certainly made running accessible…  long gone were the days of the treadmill due to East Coast winters, and getting lost in thought and music while running along the beach was never a sacrifice.  She completed the 5K program and looked forward to her new future as a runner.  

Dorit’s next race was one she would never take for granted.  Her family’s support as they cheered for her helped her confidence tremendously.  As a Nurse Practitioner, it wasn’t enough to simply teach them about the benefits of exercise - now she would show them that fitness and health is a life-long journey.   Joining the Pacifica Runner’s Club has allowed her to be part of a community of local runners.  The Club races and clinics have given her inspiration to continue running.  Her daughter and son have participated in a few races themselves.  

Dorit’s running friends have kept her motivated and she has completed numerous 5Ks, 10Ks, a Spartan, and a couple of Half-marathons.  She is signed up for the San Francisco Half Marathon in July 2019 and is even contemplating a Full Marathon in the near future.  Without the support of her running community she would never have dreamed of progressing this far.  

Dorit joined the Pacifica Runner’s Board in 2019 to help give back to the Club she loves so much.  Through camaraderie, support, guidance, and knowledge, she hopes to further this lifestyle for many more members! 

PROMOTIONS CO-DIRECTOR - Jamie Drever

Jamie moved to Pacifica in 2016 from Folsom.  She joined the Pacifica Runners Board in 2019 and hopes to contribute to its success.

Jamie has been running off and on since the late 80’s.  Her first Bay to Breakers was in 1989, and she’s done many more since.  She was fairly content with running short distances of 3-4 miles for many years.  Then in 2013 she decided to train for and run a half marathon with her daughter as a tribute to her sister who lost a battle with cancer.  She then caught the bug for the longer distance races.  She started running more half marathons and then while volunteering at an aid station for the California International Marathon in 2014, she made a pact with a friend to run the race the next year.  Staying true to their word, they trained and ran the marathon the following year.

Jamie’s motto is:  “If I can do it, you can do it too”.  She ran her first marathon at age 48, her second at age 49, and her third at age 50, and has around 30 half marathons under her belt.  She believes it’s never too late to start and you are never too old to run.  She is a solid back-of-the-pack runner and uses intervals to try to stay injury-free and maintain endurance.

Jamie has a long history of volunteering for worthy organizations.  She served on the board of the Folsom Softball Club as treasurer for 8 years and coached her daughter’s softball team, always team mom for little league, softball and soccer teams and has been volunteering her time for running clubs for the past 6 years.  Jamie works as a Childbirth Educator/Doula and has many years of working in office management and accounting.

Todd had never been a fitness buff but in 2009 he became a dad – perhaps a bit later in life than most – which sparked a newfound desire to stay fit for no better reason than to extend life as long as possible to watch his son, now two sons, grow up to be men. Despite the good intentions, that desire soon lost its initial oomph and would collect dust for a few more years...  

Fast forward to 2011: Todd and his family moved to Pacifica and they quickly fell in love with the low key, friendly vibe of the town. Todd also loved taking advantage of all the beautiful walking paths but would jealously observe local runners whizzing by him. He had seen flyers about Pacifica Runners around town but the idea of meeting up with actual runners for a morning run was really intimidating. Finally, in the spring 2014, he got fed up with his inaction and committed to a couch to 5K program. Later that summer on July 13^th, he ran his first 5K at Crissy Field with the Dolphin South End Runners. It was thrilling to run alongside 100+ other runners and pass the finish line.

With the confidence and excitement he gained from that first race, Todd became a member of Pacifica Runners a few months later. The running clinics offered by the club were incredibly helpful for understanding the basics of a good running form and his running pace gradually became quicker as a result. Since that time, he’s run many 5K races, a few 10Ks, one sprint triathlon and completed his inaugural half marathon at the 2019 Inaugural Bay Bridge Half Marathon.