Meet Brendan Gilpatrick, New Striders Club Vice President

Brendan Gilpatrick was voted in as the new Central Maine Striders vice president on January 12, 2016, at the club's annual meeting and banquet. Get to know this running coach, race director, and Strider better below.

You can also join Brendan and other officers at a monthly Striders meeting, typically held at 6 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month in the Alfond Youth Center Boardroom, Waterville.

After graduating from USM where I played lacrosse I needed something to stay active, so I started running. I love being outside and exploring new places so my focus was drawn to trail running. I found I would spend hours exploring new trails or mountains seeing how fast I could move through these places and learned there were races that did just that. This is where my love of running came together with racing these distances. I am also the race director of the Farm to Farm Ultra Run in Freeport and a board member of the Maine Track Club.

I have a background in disability insurance and on a daily basis I would see the negative impacts of not making health a priority. I found that I had people who would often turn to me for advice on running and fitness so I decided to pursue it as a profession (Dirigo Endurance coaching). I use a web-based model that allows me to work with people around the country. I live in Sidney for most of the year, so I also get the chance to work with people locally as well, including the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams at Thomas College.

I hope to use my experience with the Maine Track Club to help grow Central Maine Striders. I want people to experience the value that being a Strider can offer by being part of a great community of runners.

• Favorite Race: HURT 100, Hawaii, and the Madeira Ultra Trail, Portugal
• Favorite Run: Every run is a chance to do something I love.
• Favorite running gear: Whatever shoes I got on my feet.
• Favorite running advice: Never stop moving.
• Favorite running quote: “Running to him was real; the way he did it the realest thing he knew. It was all joy and woe, hard as diamond; it made him weary beyond comprehension. But it also made him free.”  ― John L. Parker Jr., Once a Runner