By Karen Lozano If there was a face to the ShadowChase Running Club, it would definitely belong to Heidi Ryan. Her red hair and frenetic energy are stamped everywhere. She’s perhaps one of the first people you’ll hear from if you join since she currently serves as membership coordinator. She’ll probably be the one answering…
By Karen Lozano Doctor Danielle Myers makes no bones about it: Family is spelled S-H-A-D-O-W-C-H-A-S-E. “My family is scattered all over the country — and both my parents and in-laws have passed away. I could not have raised my two children without the love and support of the ‘family’ that I have found in…
By Karen Lozano A “short” chat with Fred Myetich might easily turn into an hour long discussion covering everything from gastric bypasses to romance to life in a wheelchair. He definitely loves to talk, he’ll be the first to tell you, but his folksy persona is perfect for a new member-at-large on the ShadowChase Running…
By Karen Lozano Talk to Allen Miller for any length of time and you’ll probably find yourself shaking your head and thinking over and over, “Who knew?” Miller, a fascinating 66-year-old Beyer High School special education teacher, is a mainstay at ShadowChase Running Club events. You can usually find him at the finish line helping…
By Karen Lozano When longtime ShadowChase member Dale Ghaner puts his mind to something, you can put money down that it will happen, it just might take a year or two … or 15. So we shouldn’t be surprised when he saw a list of the 10 most scenic runs in the United States in…
By Karen Lozano For someone who has never been on the ShadowChase Running Club Board of Directors until this year, Mike Araiza has most likely been to more meetings than any sitting director, with the exception of Heidi Ryan. But it is because he starting dating Ryan that he ended up attending those countless meetings…
By: Karen Lozano To some, when it rains, it pours. But if you’re Penny White, you keep pulling out that umbrella and finding a voice to make Gene Kelly proud. Some may recognize White, 63, from her volunteer service at ShadowChase Running Club aid stations at local races. “I love encouraging people when they’re running…
By Karen Lozano While some families might debate the age old question “What came first, the chicken or the egg?, the Lopes household would most likely take a different approach. Thomas Lopes would whip that chicken and egg up into something delicious to eat, and Gina Lopes would turn the feathers and shells into an…
By Karen Lozano Jerry Nance is one of those guys who would give you the shirt off his back. Quite literally, he would willingly give it up without a second thought if he thought you needed it. I know firsthand of this generosity. Now I don’t normally write these volunteer stories in the first person,…
By Karen Lozano If ShadowChase Running Club volunteer Melanie Wiegand had a theme song, it might be from a Clint Eastwood movie. As part of the club’s race timing team, she gets a taste of the good, the bad and the ugly. Weigand, along with Susan Cooper, Danielle Myers and a few others who…
They are quite often two of the first two faces you see at a ShadowChase Running Club race. But it may surprise some to hear that Karen Crane and Loretta Ghaner, two of ShadowChase’s most prolific volunteers, are not runners or walkers at all. You can say they “married” the club. Crane, 64, joined ShadowChase…
Written by Karen Lozano in October 2015 As organizers prepare for the next Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon in March, two ShadowChase Running Club members are hard at work putting together a program for the next round of adults hoping to fulfill dreams and get healthy and fit through running a full or half marathon. Mike…