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, hosts the weekly South End Coffee Run, and is the former Local Event Director (current planning board member) for the Get Your Rear In Gear 5k. He is a former Let Me Run coach and continues to assist the organization as best he can. You can catch Philip on the Rail Trail in South End and on our beautiful greenways!
Vice President -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! “
Secretary - For the past 15 years, Susan Evren has combined running with her passion for giving back to the community. It all started with running charity events and fundraising for different causes dear to her, including several cancer and animal rescue groups. Not long after, she began working for local nonprofits with a tie to running, including Girls on the Run Charlotte and now with The Go Jen Go Foundation.
Serving as a Girls on the Run coach helped her realize the power of running both physically and mentally. She is now part of the Run NC coaching team, helping runners reach their goals. If you don’t see her running a local race, she is likely volunteering at a water stop, or running a race out of town for a ‘runcation’. Susan recently married her favorite running buddy, Senol, who she met at Ballantyne Running Club. They love to spend time running road and trail races together.
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.
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.
DebraJean 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.
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 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 three years as an ambassador for Charlotte Marathon and Charlotte Racefest, participating on pace teams for both (as well as other local races).
Irene Shin is a Charlotte native, and came back to find that her hometown has (or maybe always had) a supportive, vibrant running community. She hopes to use her experience in NYC run crew culture and non-profit strategy/fundraising to make sure that Charlotte has a fun, inclusive running culture that can respond to its runners needs in this fast growing space. Most recently, she worked with fellow members to host Marathon Olympic Trials and Olympics Track & Field Finals viewing parties, both at Vaulted Oak Brewing. You'll often find Irene at morning run clubs all across Charlotte.
Tanya Bacon has been an active member of the Charlotte running community since 2010 as a member of the Run For Your Life Speed Demons group, based in Piper Glen/South Charlotte. She is also an Ambassador for Destination Marathons (now Sports Tours International). You'll find Tanya participating in CRC events, such as the CRC Weekly Trail Run at Beatty (prior to recent injury) and the Boston Marathon Sendoff social. She really enjoys the camaraderie of the group. Tanya has experience on other boards in her past, such as the CLT Foundation as College Mentorship Chair, and has a strong background in leadership roles in Human Resource Management. She started her running career as a 'middle of the pack' runner, but finally after 8 marathons qualified for her first Boston Marathon in 2023. A month after qualifying, Tanya suffered a setback with a torn ACL from snow skiing and underwent ACL reconstructive surgery and many months of rehab to get ready for the Boston Marathon 11 months later. It was through this experience she realized the incredible support of the Charlotte running community, and has a strong appreciation on the importance of fostering and encouraging the sport of running at all levels. Tanya plans to contribute to promoting a diverse, inclusive running philosophy to the Charlotte Running Club.
Pauline Schwerbrock started running after college as a way to challenge herself and meet new people. She joined the Charlotte running community and has since met some of her best friends. Pauline has run four of the Abbott Marathon Majors thus far and has two more scheduled. To quote Pauline:
"I love encouraging new runners and connecting people through the sport, so I wanted to give back and create a space for other women to do the same. My good friend Jordan Devan and I met through running, so we decided to start the Morning. Run Club, which is Charlotte's first ladies only run club. Whether you are new to the sport, or an experienced runner, our goal was to create a safe, supportive, and inclusive space for women to come together to run. Our group and social media have grown very quickly, and I’ve loved following everyone’s running journey. We have lots of exciting things planned this year and I plan to bring that same energy and passion to the Charlotte Running Club board."
December 14, 2024 7:30 AM•9801 Mallard Creek Rd, Charlotte NC 28262
Join us
The Charlotte Running Club consists of passionate runners that strive to spread the love of running and to help each other grow. The Club's goal is to bring the expansive, diverse, and exciting Charlotte running community together under one umbrella through motivation, group runs, and social events.
Contact us
Email: run.charlotte@gmail.com
"Charlotte Running Club" is a 501(c)7 non-profit organization. Contact: P.O. Box 34763, Charlotte, NC 28234.