The Monster Runner Award

The Monster Runner Award is designed to celebrate the runners in our community who excel in race finishes, overcome personal challenges, run personal bests, contribute to a better life for those around them, and go far beyond their comfort zone to find something special within.

While this month’s Monster Runner is anything but conservative on the race course, Colleen’s passion and profession is all about conservation. Majoring in energy management at Lane Community College in Eugene, Colleen found her vocational direction that has led to her current position at EWEB. As the “Conservation Specialist” at EWEB, Colleen’s daily task is analyzing methods of energy conservation in every phase of consumption. Colleen was born in Portland, grew up in Culver, and now enjoys living in Eugene due in large part to the environmental awareness of the community.

Colleen began running in high school and continues to hit the roads each day (often with her personal trainer, Porter, pictured above) as a way to stay in shape and spend time with friends – feeling good, being healthy and camaraderie are the things that motivate Colleen. Some of the best times running, Colleen acknowledges are with others, such as being a part of the speedy women’s team at the Hood To Coast Relay known as the “Pink Ladies.” Colleen’s inspired by the next race and has her sights set on this year’s Boston Marathon in April. A veteran of three marathons, Colleen established her personal best in her own back yard last year at the Eugene Marathon, with a 3:23 clocking.

At some of the shorter races on the local scene, Colleen has continued to move up the standings with consistently faster times. Pulling off a new year’s “daily-double,” Colleen won the overall women’s combined title at this year’s First Run, with a 5K finish of 21:14 on New Year’s Eve and a 21:09 5-kilometer clocking ten hours later on New Year’s Day. In the preceding 6 weeks before New Year’s, Colleen captured the overall women’s title at the Jingle Bells Run 8K in 34:16, and finished as the 7th overall female in the EWEB Run To Stay Warm Half Marathon in 1:34:47. At the next event, you won’t see her conserving anything in effort, but always striving toward a more sustainable future for everyone in our community.