Eric Smith

Philip Sanford 

Angela Knepprath

Art McDonald 

CJ Langley

Debra Dandro

Casey Cline

Sandy Johnson

Rebeca Ehrnrooth

Eric Smith, a Charlotte native, held the position of President at the Charlotte Running Club from 2020 to 2023. With a deep involvement in the local running scene for several years, he currently helps coordinate two weekly run clubs, one at the Flying Biscuit Cafe and the other at Summit Coffee in Villa Heights. You’ll frequently spot Eric at races, where he serves as a pacer to help participants achieve their goals. He continues to serve on the Board and enrich the running community.

President - Philip Sanford is an RRCA-certified coach with a particular interest in helping people who are new to the sport feel welcome in our running community. He leads the Triple C Beer Runners, serves as a Let Me Run coach at Sedgefield Middle School, and writes a weekly newsletter about all things running for his Team Sanford Running program. Philip can be reached at prsanford@gmail.com.

Vice President - A little over a decade ago, Angela Knepprath completed her first full marathon in Minneapolis—a milestone on her bucket list. Since then, running has continued to be a source of motivation and a catalyst for personal growth. Following her Master's program, she had the opportunity to embark on a leadership development program that led from Minnesota to Houston and eventually to the city of Charlotte. Along this journey, Angela has had the pleasure of exploring new trails and participating in road races in each city. These experiences have deepened her appreciation for the diverse running communities that exist and have allowed her to build lasting connections. You can listen to her journey here: Running Around Charlotte Podcast. Angela can be reached on Instagram @angelakneppr. 

Secretary - Although Art McDonald ran to stay in shape for various sports for most of his life, he did not take up serious running until 2014. Since then, Art has completed twelve marathons, four ultras, including a 213 miler, and recently marked his 70th birthday by doing 70 miles. Running has gotten Art involved with the Charlotte Running Club, both as a participant and in supporting running in the Charlotte area. In addition to running with several groups each week, Art has paced numerous races and coached a Let Me Run group. 

Treasurer - CJ Langley's fitness journey began a few days before his 31st birthday at a Spartan race that he was ill prepared for and barely finished. Four years later in March of 2017, he completed his first marathon the day before his 35th birthday, missing his goal time by 46 seconds, which motivated him to improve on that time and every race time ever since. He believes that his training makes him a better husband, employee, son, brother, and member of his community. He’s a proud member of Black Men Run, the Run NC coaching team, and a personal running coach.  When he’s not running or analyzing data, you can catch him spending time with his wife, two dogs, and cat.

Debra Jean Goodnight Dandro discovered running in 2013.  She is proud to be a "back of the packer", loves road and trail running and typically does run/walk intervals.  To date she has completed over seventy half marathons, seven marathons, three 50Ks and one 50-miler.  Currently she is one of the leaders of the Flying Biscuit Run Club as well as the Primal Belmont Runners, a former NoDa Run Club Ambassador and a member of Half Fanatics.  Her other passion is photography so be prepared to be "captured" at the next run club or event she attends.  You can reach Debra at debra.dandro@gmail.com.

Casey Cline has served as a Charlotte Marathon ambassador for 4 years, charity runner and coach for Girls on the Run of Charlotte, has organized and successfully held a “Kids Fun Run” at the Stratford Richardson YMCA, hosts a free community track workout every Tuesday ("Track Tuesday"), is a certified RRCA running coach and currently serves an active board member at the Stratford Richardson YMCA. As a registered Landscape Architect, Casey advocates for active design by encouraging active infrastructure such as greenways, bike lanes and placemaking communities in our city.

Sandy Johnson is probably one of the most talkative runners you'll ever meet, and be careful if she gets hangry! You can often catch her on Fridays at the CRC Summit OTP run, many Sundays at Flying Biscuit Run Club, all the seasonal CRC Rise N Run events in University, and she leads the new monthly CRC Mallard Creek Greenway Run. Feel free to talk up food, coffee, running, and brainstorm ideas on how to improve our running environment and expand our running community. Sandy is a certified RRCA run coach and served two years as an ambassador for Charlotte Marathon and Charlotte Racefest, participating on pace teams for both (as well as other local races).

Originally Swedish, Rebeca Ehrnrooth is relatively new to Charlotte and is passionate about running. She is an occasional marathon runner and keen amateur ultra runner. Running helps to keep her mind free and she adores the running community who have given her many friends worldwide, including when arriving to Charlotte. When she isn't  running, she's working for a private equity fund and spends as much time as possible outdoors with her beloved dog Sushi. Rebeca also likes reading, attending exhibitions and opera. She credits the running community with making her a better person and is a big believer that “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.”  Running motto: “Don’t just chase your dreams. Run them down! “