Member of the Month - November, 2017 - Carolyn Huang
We congratulate Carolyn Huang for being nominated as the DCCS November Member of the Month! Read her story here!
Tell us a little bit about yourself? Where are you from? How long in the DC area, etc?
I'm a Michigander who found her way to DC through her job. I work on child labor and forced labor measurement in global contexts at the Department of Labor. I've been in DC for about 4 non-consecutive years. Before moving back to the area, I lived in the Research Triangle of North Carolina.
When did you get started running? Would you consider yourself a competitive runner or just casual runner?
I started running short distances during high school track and field. Back then, one mile felt like it was long distance. :) It wasn't until I moved to Boston that I grew to appreciate true long distance running. I'm a recreational runner, although I am competitive with myself.
How did you find out about DC Capital Striders? What group do you run with and what do you enjoy about the running group?
I found DC Capital Striders through Meetup.com. Although I don't join the group as often as I should, Monday and Thursday Smithsonian crews bring me back again and again because of its fun, social people. I love the dedicated leaders (shout out to Guillermo and Michiel), the motivation that members bring to the run, and that the group as a whole gives back to the community through volunteer work. It's a wonderful community.
One of the run group hosts shared that you coach co-workers and create training plans for them for running. Can you tell us more about that?
Back in North Carolina, I used to co-coach a half and full marathon program for Fleet Feet. When I moved to DC, a coworker and I built up a small but dedicated following that has gone on to complete the Baltimore Marathon Relay, Cherry Blossom 10 miler, North Face Challenge Marathon Relay, and most recently, the Vida 5k. For races which were goal-oriented, I've shared lessons learned from my time in NC to safely bring runners up to distance or pace. In June 2018, a few of us will be running the Glacier Park Half Marathon, so we'll be looking at a lot of elevation training!
