JASON FRIEDMAN
MPF RNR Athlete
My dad was one of the original running boomers; my earliest runs, at around age five, were accompanying him on three-mile loops around Rockland Lake, or two-mile runs on a cinder path in a park near our house, where I would make him stop at all the "exercise stations" to do pull-ups, sit-ups, and log lifts. He would pay me twenty-five cents a mile. I kept my running quarters in a jar on my desk that had a big smiley face on it. (Of course, in my day, for a quarter, you could take a bus to the movie and watch two shows and get a pop too! Kids today.)
Running has been a constant for me for most of the last thirty years of my life. It's given my life definition at times when I've been lacking, it's given me motivation when I haven't had any, and it's forged much of my identity, both personally and at times professionally. I'm an ER physician by trade, but I've also been a running camp counselor, founder, and director; a medical director and volunteer at trail races; a running magazine writer; an assistant coach for HS and collegiate XC; and part-owner of a running specialty store. I've raced track, cross-country, roads, mountains, trail, ultras, and OCRs. If you have a stupid idea that involves running, I'm probably interested.
I love competing for MPF RNR. The team you'll meet in these pages is an amazing group of athletes and people, and I'm thrilled that Elizabeth, Joe, Ben, and Ian have kept me around to keep mixing it up.
