SFRRC Board

Perri Chastain-Howley | Co-President

Perri moved to San Francisco after graduating from USC in 2018. She grew up playing sports (soccer, tennis, basketball) where running was a foundational aspect, and got into recreational running during the pandemic after signing up for her first ever race: The SF Marathon (First Half). Perri was exposed to SFRRC via Track Tuesdays at Kezar and instantly became enamored with the culture and kindness of the club’s community. She is now a frequent face at both Track Tuesdays and Saturday long runs. Count on her to suggest doing planks at the end of every run! When not working or running, you can find Perri on spontaneous adventures with friends, watching Dallas Mavericks basketball, or in line at Tartine hoping they haven’t sold out of their bread pudding. 

  

Edward Lerner | Co-President

I joined the cross country team in high school, but I hated it and quit halfway through my first season. As a grown up I occasionally ran for exercise, but it was a somewhat painful chore. Eventually I started running with two friends at work, and finally got over the hurdle of every run feeling bad. It took a couple months of support and consistency. I didn’t love running until after I joined the SFRRC in 2012. It was amazing to run with a group of friendly, encouraging people, every Saturday, at exactly the right pace. Somehow along the way I’ve run 6 marathons, every one challenging, and occasionally fun. Now my running goal is to do a marathon when I turn 70, and, of course, to keep running with SFRRC. I also coach track and am trying to learn everything I can about running. Even after 10+ years I’m still working on being a better runner. Remember to rotate your hips! 

Mike Creasy | Secretary

Mike joined SFRRC in 2019 when he moved from the East Coast. Mike has been running since 2001 when he met his now wife who rightly noted that he enjoyed eating and drinking more than staying fit! The rest is history as Mike has run 20 marathons in a number of countries. Mike credits the Club's supportive members and strong training programs for a PR at age 53. You can find Mike on the Saturday Club runs and Tuesday track.  

Tony Riley | Treasurer

Tony started to run in 2013. Back then, he was 70 pounds heavier and his idea of a long run was 1 mile. A 5K was out of the question back then. Tony joined SFRRC in 2014. There are several reasons why Tony loves running. Running is an honest pursuit – apparently the Strava numbers don’t lie, although sometimes I wish they would. The best part of SFRRC in Tony’s opinion is the social and community aspect. He has made a lot of good friends and has learned a lot. You can always run by yourself but running with a like-minded group of people is much more fun! And then there’s Pizza Tuesdays…I mean Tuesday Track, which occasionally gets a little rambunctious. Tony is originally from London, England.

Mira Olson | Director of Membership

Over the last several years, Mira participated in a dozen half marathons across the U.S. but didn't consider herself more than a casual runner until 2020, when she had hip surgery and was forced to give up running for nearly a year. It was during that period, as various PTs told her to give it up permanently and take up another sport, that Mira realized how much she loved running. Eventually she reached out to a specialist she knew from her yoga community -- SFRRC's yogi-in-residence, Jenny Maier! This in turn led Mira to join SFRRC, where she has made dear friends, learned to navigate in the Presidio, overcome elementary school trauma and developed a love for track workouts, honed her heckling skills, and laughed until her sides ached, all while growing stronger and faster. Thanks to SFRRC and Coach Jenny, in 2022 Mira completed her first full marathon -- something she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to do post-surgery -- and did so entirely pain free and in under 4:00. In 2023, she looks forward to chasing a BQ and continuing to sport SFRRC gear on runs throughout SF and across the globe.

Siddhant (Sid) Jain Jaiswal | Director of Social Media & Marketing

Sid joined SFRRC in 2024 while training for his first marathon and loves mixing it up across all the run formats the club has to offer. An Army BRAT who grew up in 15 cities across India, post which he’s worked in Mumbai, the Cayman Islands, and now San Francisco. He also co-founded and leads ElSid RC, a Friday run club focused on easy miles along the Embarcadero and post-run bakery stops.

Off the roads, Sid works in venture capital and loves to travel and spend most of his time with his family, especially his little baby girl.

    

Kate Reid | Co-Director of Apparel

A lifelong runner, Kate joined SFRRC when training for her first marathon after almost 30 years of shorter races. Kate’s a proud Colorado native (go altitude training!) who moved to SF in 2012 after years living in Tokyo, London, Mexico City & Washington, DC. In SFRRC she has found a warm, friendly, supportive community and has seen her mile times drop when getting back on the track for the first time since college. Her favorite parts of the club are getting hang with the members, speed work on Tuesdays, races with a team, and any excuse to party. She believes Run Clubs today are like night clubs of yesterday—so come out and get down!
 

Peter Wagner | Director of Apparel

Peter's been in San Francisco Since 2015. It's where he got back into running, signed up for his first half-marathon, and things grew from there. Running has since become a source of community, exploration, and personal challenge. When he's not logging miles, you can find him struggling up some routes at the climbing gym, bowling on his Thursday league, or cooking up something delicious. Mostly carbs. His current running goals are getting a sub 3:20 marathon, completing a 50k Ultra, and doing a race somewhere outside the US. All of it fuelled by SFRRC runs and training plans, of course! As Matt Jeung would say, "Let's Go!"

Mel Kumove | Director of Events

Melanie is a longtime runner but became more dedicated to marathon training in late 2021. Historically a solo runner, she joined SFRRC when she was training for the SF Marathon and was hooked after the first Saturday run with the 8:30 crew. She loves the camaraderie and stories shared on Saturday long runs, as well as getting speedy at Track Tuesdays. Mel grew up in Hawaii but has lived in SF since 2014. Outside of running, you’ll find her seeking a pastry while exploring the city, trying a new restaurant, or traveling to the nearest beach!

Patricia Roberts | Director of Volunteering

Patricia’s love of running started in high school and college when she jogged a lot mainly to stay fit and feel good. When the Louisiana native moved to the Bay Area 30+ years ago for a job opportunity, hiking the amazing area trails became her exercise go-to. In 2022, she joined college friends at the Zion 1/2 marathon and reconnected with running only to discover she couldn’t keep up with those friends. She joined SFRRC at track Tuesdays to get faster (to date, her mile PR has been set in the warmup at track Tuesday through GG park ). She has been struck by how friendly and inclusive the club members are and is happy to be part of the active community.

Her current goal is to figure out how to keep running for life and to run races in beautiful new places. She loves volunteering too and hopes that you’ll join our volunteer activities supporting fellow runners, cleaning up the beautiful city where we run, and giving back to our community.

Didi Werneiwski | Director of Running Operations

Didi began her running journey in high school, where she specialized in the 300m hurdles and long jump. Over the years, she moved on to longer distances, running her first half marathon right after graduating from college and her first marathon in 2016, during graduate school. Over the years, running has morphed from a hobby to an obsession. As a scientist, Didi loves to get into the details of exercise physiology to understand how the body responds to different kinds of training stimuli. She loves finding the right series of workouts to help runners meet their goals.

Didi joined SFRRC at a kick-off event in 2021 and immediately realized that, for her, this community is what running had been missing up until this point. She loves the feeling of connecting with others while pursuing the common goals of training (or while just goofing off!). The commitment we have to this sport, and to one another, makes SFRRC irreplaceable. Didi is also a Tuesday Track coach and the SFRRC cross-country team coordinator.