Pat Brown mountain climbing

Read about Pat's contributions to the club and learn some fun facts about the man who can often be found hauling water, timing races, marking courses, and climbing mountains.

Please list the Reston Runners programs and/or events that you volunteer for.
I volunteer for our races: Fall Into Winter and the Women's Distance Festival. I've been one of Moshe's gungadins, supporting the Sunday water and sports drink provision usually one month a year, but that has slipped off Moshe's radar now that Leslie and I have the Saturday water gig. And then there's Stats & Chats, although my motives are suspect. Hoping to learn the 18-mile course, I recently volunteered to mark it. OMG! Although it's one of my favorite courses, with the woods, Lake Audubon, wooden bridges, the newly refurbished glade, art murals at Hunters Woods Elementary School, and running on the golf course, there are beaucoup "secret" turns. And, finally, I've helped at some of the finish lines that we manage.

What do you like best about doing volunteer work for the club?
Having directed a few races, I know that every volunteer is critical to the success of the event. Even if you are just standing at a corner directing people to turn, a lot of people, from the race director to the last runner, are depending on you. It is the same with the club. I see it as a way to contribute to our community and especially to a club, like Reston Runners, that has values I agree with. It's about fitness, friendship, and fun via running and walking. While we are happy for those who win races, it's the volunteers we honor at the annual meeting.

Please tell us an unusual fact about yourself or talent that you have that few people know about.
Besides washing dishes, I have no talent. Hopefully God is not expecting too much of me.

I was pretty happy when my son graduated from college and law school, but I maintain that I had little to do with it: he came packaged that way.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Initially a truck driver, but a few 2,000-mile trips between Chicago and Burbank, Calif., put the kibosh on that! By 8th grade, I decided I wanted to be a mathematician. It was a goal and remains a real dream even still. I wanted to know how people long ago found the area of a circle. (I still don't know how we know that Pi is not a fraction.)

It turns out that mathematical research is hard (at least for me). Like Saliere in the movie Amadeus, one may learn to play "the mathematical piano" well, but it doesn't mean you are blessed with the creative gifts of Mozart.

We Need You!
Want to pitch in and help out the club, too? Reston Runners offers a variety of programs and activities you can volunteer for:
Course Marking  
Gungadins (Water support)  
Finish Line Services  
Youth in Motion program
Women's Training Program
Women's Distance Festival
Stats and Chats reporter

In addition, we can always use your help for the Fall Into Winter race, the annual summer picnic and pool party, the annual dinner meeting, W&OD trail cleanup days, crewing and other tasks for the JFK50 race, and the periodic blood drives the club sponsors.