Friday, May 1, 2009

2009 Team: Eric Charette

Eric J. Charette Email: eric.charette@yahoo.com Personal Records * 5km – 16:42 Nov 08 at Living Waters 5km in Decatur, AL * 5mi – 28:01 Aug 08 at Lake Antoine Classic in Iron Mountain, MI * 10km – 34:45 Nov 08 at Dam Bridge Run 10km in Florence, AL * ½ Marathon - 1:16:38 Nov 08 at Huntsville Half Marathon in Huntsville, AL * Marathon - 2:54:12 Dec 08 at Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, AL * 50km – 3:53:54 Mar 09 at Delano 12 Hour in Decatur, AL Brief Bio Eric grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and attended college at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan. While there, he earned a BS in Electrical Engineering and is a registered professional engineer. Eric is married to his wife Laura and has a wonderful dog, Prisoner of Azkaban Sirius Beagle ('Siri'). They have made Huntsville their home since 2006. Eric began running at age 27 and has been racing competitively ever since. In this short time, he has completed 133 races, of which he has finished in the top 5% of all runners three quarters of the time and owns 88 top 10 overall finishes and has finished in the top 5 spots 60 times. He also recently went over the 14,000-mile mark for his career. In 2008, his peers recognized him as the Huntsville Track Club (HTC) Male Performer of the Year, an honor that he is very proud of because of the hard work he put in during the year. Other highlights of 2008 included breaking three hours in a marathon for the first time (2:54:12 at Rocket City Marathon), running in his first Boston Marathon, winning his first ever race (28:01 at Lake Antoine Classic 5 Mile), running 3600 miles in a calendar year, running 40 races and setting personal time records at every distance that he raced. Eric enjoys writing about his running adventures and maintains an online running blog, which can be found at www.siriusultrarunner.com. Short and Long Term Running Goals In short term, Eric will be focusing on a few goal races, which include the 2009 Boston Marathon and Strolling Jim. He will also be trying to win the open division of the HTC Gran Prix. Beyond that, Eric would like to run more ultra distance events, compete in larger races with an increased level of competition and push harder than ever before to find the upper limits of his abilities. Community Involvement Eric is the VP Races/Equipment for the Huntsville Track Club and volunteers his time to work at most of the races. Eric helps to coach runners through Fleet Feet for the 5k, 10k and half marathon programs. He enjoys running with his friends and helping them to maximize their abilities through training runs. Eric continues to play an active role in the local running community.