Between May 10 through May 17, 2021, all current ARC members can login and cast your votes online or in-person at one of our weekly group runs.
Austin Runners Club is a completely volunteer-lead organization that relies on the efforts of our volunteer board in order to serve our mission. All current ARC members are eligible to run and vote for who they’d like to represent them on the Board of Directors. Below you’ll find candidate bios for those who are running to serve on our board. You can check out more about each current Board Member and their role here.
A few quick notes on the election:
- In addition to the candidates listed below, members will also have the option to write-in their preferred candidates on the ballot.
- Online elections will be held from Monday, May 10 through Monday, May 17, 2021 here.
- Each current ARC Member or Family account will be eligible to vote once.
Election results will be announced on social media and in our weekly member newsletter once they have been determined.
President
Brent Stein
Brent has had the pleasure of serving as both the ARC Vice President and the President over the past two years. During that time, he has been lucky enough to work with a host of amazing and passionate people on the Board as well as our talented group run leaders. He has also witnessed what an amazing community of passionate runners, members and volunteers can do when they work together in support of a goal. His favorite experience so far is the 2019 Decker Challenge race and seeing the hard work of so many people pay off as over 1200 runners started and finished a great day of racing.
He is honored to be considered for the position of President of the ARC Board of Directors for a second year. His goal as President will be to learn and build from where we have come, but also to inspire new ideas to grow into the future. His plan to make this happen is based on four core areas:
- Grow and build on the current success of the ARC racing events, DC series and our weekly group runs
- Secure incremental sponsorship partners and funding for the club
- Enhance collaboration with like-minded non-profit, retail & training businesses in Austin
- Evaluate and improve member benefits, services & experience
He knows this has been a challenging year, but he is excited to be looking forward with opportunity and optimism. This year has taught us to be flexible and resilient. he knows that our team is stronger as a result, and this will allow us to thrive and grow despite any challenges that we may face in the future. He is eager to continue the great work of ARC to serve Austin Runners and our greater community.
Vice President
John Armbrust
John got into running in 2015 and has been in love with it ever since. Running has, quite
literally, changed his life as he both met my wife through running and also improved his
overall health as he was not particularly active prior to starting to run. Thanks to the
positive life-changing experience with running, he is passionate about finding ways to give
back so that he can help others enjoy all the wonderful benefits that come with being an
active runner.
To say that he has been hooked is a bit of an understatement as well. While he ran his first
marathon in 2016, he has now run the marathon distance 60 times in 39 different states.
If elected as the Vice President of the ARC board, he would be excited to collaborate with
other board members on ways in which we can grow the positive impact of running in the community. He would also seek to collaborate with other similar organizations to see if there are ways in which we can work with others to have an even larger impact. He would also want to work with the team to help find ways to broaden our membership base.
Director of Communications
PJ Thompson
As a hopeful part of the ARC Board of Directors, this social butterfly is excited about the possible opportunity in serving as the ARC Director of Communications. His drive if elected will be to increase the social footprint of the ARC in connecting with and creating a wider community of runners throughout the Austin, TX area. This he will achieve by the following;
- Highlighting the Austin running community represented by the many different areas of town, runners from different backgrounds and at different stages of their running journey.
- Working to increase diversity in the sport of running.
- Promoting current member happenings in order to build a closer knit community of runners that are welcoming to all.
Running is the most accessible sport in only needing a pair of shoes, top and bottom. He will work to make sure current runners and those new to the sport retain that feeling of having fun while doing it all the while feeling supported along the way.
Director of Member Services
Lauren Castleberry (Reynnells)
Lauren started running in middle school when her friend asked her to try out for the track team with her. There she found the joy of running and hasn’t stopped since. In college, she had the opportunity to run for two universities and learned how to persevere, trust your team, and set big goals. Now, she is enjoying the ability to run for fun in the great city of Austin.
She moved to Austin in 2017 and she didn’t realize how encouraging, friendly, and active a community could be until she began running through the city. Her first race with ARC was the Daisy 5K in 2019 & the atmosphere was incredible. She knew then that she wanted to be a part of this organization.
She works for Marathon Kids as the Annual Fund & Grant Manager (Every day she gets to combine running, writing, & non-profit!) and it’s an absolute blast working alongside her awesome team.
Director of Volunteer Services
Emily Kozel
Emily started to take running more seriously in 2011 after getting her first desk job. She started with a couch to 5k program and hasn’t looked back since. This Austin running community has given her so much; a fun hobby, health, friends that are now family, and maybe more importantly, a sense of purpose. She currently coaches athletes at Rogue Running starting from first time half marathoners all the way up to athletes that have run more marathons than they can count. Emily is an RRCA certified coach, loves organizing events, and has never met a peanut butter and jelly sandwich she doesn’t like.
Director of Information Services
Rod Taylor
Rod has been running and competing in races since the 4th grade, and has been an Austin resident since moving here after graduating from Iowa State University in 2007. After living in Iowa for nearly a decade (through high school and college), he has a deep appreciation for runnable Austin “winters”. He enjoys running local and destination races with his wife, Katie, who is also a dedicated runner and ARC member. Other non-running related interests include engineering, movies at the Alamo Drafthouse, bicycling, and playing guitar.
He has enjoyed serving as the ARC Director of Information Services for the past two years. He is an engineer through and through, and likes the technical problem solving that comes with this position. Whether it’s maintaining the ARC website, membership database, Distance Challenge results, or various other information technology-related tasks required to keep the organization running smoothly.
Director of Finance
Ginger Salinas
Ginger is a mom to a wonderful teenage boy that has been part of the local running community since 2001. She has completed the Distance Challenge several times, ran 15 full marathons and continues to grow her love for health & wellness through Yoga and now Crossfit. She feels it’s a holistic approach in mind, body and soul alignment when it comes to her healthy lifestyle. Some years she trains harder than others but the commitment and drive is always present. Training is a great stress reliever and a place she finds centeredness. She would love to be a bit more active in the running community and use her skills to help grow the community. She is passionate about reaching out to others and helping inspire or even create the opportunity for this gift of physical movement to others.
She has a Finance degree and Business Management degree. She has been at Apple,Inc for 15 yrs and currently works in Project Management for Finance BPR as Global Sr UAT Lead. She plans, supports, guides and drives test execution throughout multiple phases of Finance Process Improvement and/or System Implementation projects, as well as selected IHUs and cross-functional initiatives outside the FBPR Portfolio. In her previous roles she worked as a Global Disputes Analyst and a Master Data Analyst. She has a wide range of negotiation and strategic planning skills, as well as, a good public speaker that is able to read the audience’s needs.
She is honored to be nominated and considered for the position of Director of Finance of ARC Board of Directors. She hopes to provide fresh ideas, help drive initiatives and continue to be of service to others. She plans to take her skills set from her corporate career in project management, her skills from her Yoga certification and from her Integration Wellness Life Coaching certification and provide leadership, partnership & positive feedback to explore the possibilities of what is next for this amazing group.
Though we have been though a very challenging year + pandemic, she believes there is hope and opportunity to continue to grow this community in a safe and healthy way. This community continues to provide support, partnership and innovation around the upcoming race year and she would be truly honored to play an active role in this process.
Between May 10 through May 17, 2021, all current ARC members can login and cast your votes online or in-person at one of our weekly group runs.
