Sean Greenhill
President
Sean is a Blue Mountains local who first ran trail races as a teenager. Through several house moves, an illness and a few changes of career path, his love of mountain trails has remained a constant in his life, demonstrated through running fourteen consecutive Six Foot Track marathons and multiple other ultras including California’s prestigious Western States Endurance Run. Sean was one of the founders of Running Wild in order to showcase the great trails of the Mountains which are not as well travelled and is in his second year as President. He and his partner Melanie are self employed and live in Wentworth Falls.
Rod Cutler
Vice President
I am a 44 year old married father of two young children. I have been running for fitness for 30 years, but took up competitive running only in past 6 years. During that time I gravitated towards trail running and ultras. I have completed many trail races in Australia including Six Foot Track, Great North Walk, Great Ocean Walk, Cradle Mtn, Bogong to Hotham, Deep Space Marathon, Fitzroy Falls Trail Marathon, Sydney Trailwalker, and many other small trail races. The experience I have had participating in these races I hope is what I bring to Running Wild events. I have a passion for trail running and am proud of the fact that I was part of the original meeting of three (Sean, Phil and myself) that was the birth of our organisation. From that meeting we have encouraged and cajoled others to join us in delivering our vision. We are indeed blessed to be staging challenging races on magnificent trails in the Blue Mountains area.
Luis Vazquez
Secretary
I have been running since school days but took on long distance in 2001. My pet run is the 6ft track marathon with a 4.26 PB. I have completed 40+ road marathons to date with a 2.56.20 PB. Lately, I have crossed over to “the dark side” and taken up ultra running; completing 5 x 100 milers including the Grand Slam. Since starting distance running, I have as well occupied various club committee roles and take much satisfaction in putting something back into the running community. I am currently the Club’s Secretary and am enjoying the wave of trail running movement.
Luke Doyle
Treasurer
Luke is new to the trail running scene, his early athletic pursuits were in the field of Triathlon. It took the better part of 10 years and trying all of the distances in the sport for him to figure out that he couldn’t swim or bike. Not that he could run much better but he enjoys running and when you can put running on trials instead of running next to lycra clad testosterone filled competitors, could you really ask for more!?!? Luke is very keen to help the Running Wild team and test his metal ‘out there’ as long as he doesn’t have to see snakes!!!
Phil Murphy
Race Coordinator
Took up running 11 yrs ago and once my feet found trails I never looked back. Love to run 100 milers, have completed 18 including the domestic races at Glasshouse – Great North Walk – Alpine and Coast to Kosciuscko. Overseas 100 milers include Western States – Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc and Hardrock. Banged heads with Sean and Rod in a small cafe in Glenbrook last year and voila RunningWild was born. Love giving something back the sport that has given me so many great memories. Looking forward to another great year of RunningWild.
Ben Berriman
General Committee
I have been running round the Mts (& the gong for uni life) since Mr Nicholls use to give us a lift to Blue Mts Joggers in 1982 as 8yr olds. Still remember the first time I made it to the turn around point of monthly handicap and first fun run (10kms) at Gross Vale. Fortunate enough to have Tricky Bullant as a teacher at school and he along with John Trotter (Mr 6ft of Winmalee) kept me running through High School years. At the same time Triathlon caught my interest and in 1991 (16yr old) I completed my first Duathlons (out at Castlereagh) and Nepean Tri in the same year. Had a great time through Uni running around with Gong Uni Tri team and had eye opening times at a number of Uni Games. Having returned to the Mts, got fat for a week then returned to running etc. Short stint running with Bullants (still on temp leave of absence). Caught up with former school running mates and have been all over the lower mts running tracks ever since. Most recently in the esteamed company of the Blue Mountains Marathon Clinic. There can never be too much trail or too many hills in one run.
Ian Sargent
General Committee
My name is Ian Sargent but most people know me as “Sarge”. I have been running for ten years after a lifetime of playing other sports. I am glad that I am on the Running Wild committee this year as I really believe in nurturing a trail running culture in the Blue Mountains and want it to prosper. I have met some lovely people whilst running in the Blue Mountain’s bush and some of them have become close friends. Some of them I can even beat in a race !! I hope everyone that runs with Running Wild this year enjoys the beauty of our surrounds and improves their PBs along the way.
Helen Pretty
General Committee
I run trails. Lots of them. I’m not fast, but I love the peace, tranquillity and the scenery out there, in fact, I usually run with a camera to capture those magic moments on the trails. I’ve been running for over 15 years and run both short and long distances, although the marathon and 50 km are my favorite. I’m a keen runner of all Blue Mountains trail runs, including the Six Foot Track Marathon, Woodford to Glenbrook, Mt Wilson to Bilpin and the Wild Endurance, but have been known to run road races too, like the Gold Coast Marathon and Sydney Marathon. I’d like to run some overseas marathons, like London or Tokyo, to experience something new. As I said though, I’m not fast – you will find me in the back half of a race, but hey, I enjoy it and that works for me. I am really happy to be part of the RW committee – I love volunteering at events and crewing. It’s an amazing experience giving something back to the sport you love and helping others achieve their goals.
Ewan Horsburgh
General Committee
I am a recent Blue Mountains resident and the timing was perfect to get to know the trails featured in the first series of Running Wild I love running everything from 10km road races to 100km+ trail ultras, with NF100, GNW100 and 6foot being just a few favourites. Living here is great for training as I am able to run some brilliant upper mountain trails virtually from my own backyard. There is a great running community in the mountains and I am regularly running the trails with the Leura Icebergs. The Friday coffee run has been very popular especially after those cold winter mornings. I’m really excited to become a part of the Running Wild Committee for Season 2.
Keith Hong
General Committee
Keith, also known as “Buzz” (After his Coolrunning handle; Buzzlightyear) Moved to Australia ten years ago and joined a local running Group to build up the social net work. A regular Pacer in Road Marathons over the last 5 years, Keith sadly fell into the Dark side of running and began to drift towards Ultra Running. Even though by nature Keith enjoy endless hours of pounding on the tarmac, the lure of the the Aussie Mountain and trails meant he was spending more time among (hardcore & social) runners. Keith has since ran a handful of road marathons, Six-Foot track, Mt Wilson to Bilpin (it’s the scones actually!), Northface100, GlasshouseTrails, paced three years of Great North Walk 100 miler for three different Runners, ran two Coast to Kosci (1 DNF, 1 Complete) While Keith continue to build his resume to hopfully enter the Badwater Ultra Marathon, his love and passion for running means he will spend as much time as part of the Running Wild Committee. And he will often hear him say…”tO inFiniTY & bEYond”
Joanne Brischetto
General Committee
My name is Jo and I am a trail running addict!
Having played team sports my whole life, I only discovered my love of running after having my second child. I started out doing triathlons, which I enjoy, but would enjoy more so if there was no swimming involved.
After completing several half marathons, I ran my first marathon in 2010, and my second was the Running Wild Glenbrook Marathon. Placing 3rd in this race gave me a guaranteed entry to the 6 foot track marathon. In training for 6 foot I fell in love with trail running and became part of a wonderful community. The 6 foot marathon cemented my new addiction, but left me a bit worse for wear, and I have spent the last 6 months recovering from a stress fracture. I am thrilled to be slowly getting back into running again now and am really enjoying being part of the Running Wild committee. Remember…Life’s too short to run on the road!