Interview: NoPo 'Beer' Run Club Founder, Dave Cornell

STATS

Name: Dave Cornell
Hometown: Austin, TX/Seattle, WA
Website: http://www.meetup.com/NoPo-Run-Club/
First Beer Consumed: Dos Equis Amber
Favorite Style of Beer: Stout/Porter
Preferred Watering Hole(s): When in Portland: BarBar, Bridgetown Beerhouse, or APEX and when in Austin: The Draught House Pub and Brewery
Best Place for Pizza: Sizzle Pie-Portland, Home Slice-Austin

This past summer I had the pleasure of meeting Dave Cornell at the North American Organic Brewers Festival. Dave is the founding member of the North Portland (or NoPo) Run Club; a ‘Meet Up’ group that puts in a good workout and then enjoys a few pints. I’ve had the pleasure of running with the club in its early stages and had a terrific time. Since then, the group has grown in size, are scheduling more runs and doing several other activities. Dave graciously offered up his time to answer a few questions.

What inspired you to start the NoPo Run Club?
When I was in flight school in Pensacola there was a local pub that had a run group where after a few runs you got a shirt and drank on the cheap, needless to say we thought that was pretty awesome. So after I left the Navy in ’06, I met up with a college buddy back in Austin and we started a similar club. We named it SoCo Run Club after the eclectic South Congress district of Austin that the bar was located in. Then, when I moved to Portland a couple years ago I immediately got to work looking for a bar, pub, or brewery to run out of. As soon as I found the Mississippi district I knew it was the place for the kind of club that doesn’t mind getting their hands (or in our case shoes) a little dirty on their way to a proper pint (or the occasional PBR). We ended choosing Mississippi Studios’ Bar Bar and have loved their outdoor patio, great craft beer, and A-mazing burgers ever since!

When was the first run and how did it go?
The first “official” run was back in May of last year. Funny enough, I was the only runner that day but truthfully, I had posted the “Meet-Up” just days prior so I honestly didn’t expect many, if anyone else, to join me.

How many people are currently in the group and approximately how many run each week?
To date, officially we have 296 members but considering we have many members that prefer to “Run off of the Grid”, I’d put our total closer to 330. By those numbers we’re on track to have more than one new member per day in our first year. On average over the “winter months” we’ve had anywhere between 20 and 30 runners per run. For this year’s Saint Patty’s Day Run we had over 50.

Do you welcome all athletic abilities?
Absolutely! The main run is a standard 5K but we have a 2 and 2.5 mile loop so that most of us can finish together for the obligatory NoPo Toast. Some of us even run a 10K from time to time with the goal of meeting up with the back of the 5K back… talk about earning your pint!

Briefly describe what a person should expect if they show up to run for the first time.
Expect your initiation to be long, but painful… just kidding. NoPo is not your average “gotta know somebody” Meet-Up, we’re pretty laid back. All you really need to do is make sure you sign up on the list (just like that ol run club in P-Cola we track our runs so we can drink on the cheap), stretch out if you like, and get ready to earn your brew. With that, while the normal route is not too difficult (there are a total of three turns…) be sure to take a look at it online before you roll out or just be sure you can keep up with the slowest runner… HA!

What beer tastes best to you after putting in some miles?
Personally I like to start light and go heavy; Bar Bar keeps a decent selection on tap so I mix it up week to week. Some of us prime the pump before hand if you know what I mean…

What do you anticipate in NoPo Run Club’s future?
We don’t take ourselves too seriously over at NoPo… as long as we have a good run and some great beer, we’re content. But we are working on a few things with the local NoPo community like a NoPo 5/10K/Kids walk where we could give back a little to the neighborhood that took us in… that would be pretty sweet. Other than that, we have a few sponsors that pay “most” of the bills but we’re always looking for other like-minded groups and companies that want put their logos on our site and shirts and help make our beer just a little cheaper, Cheers!

If you enjoying running, love beer and are looking to do it with a great group of folks, check out the NoPo Run Club.

The gang enjoying beers and each others company after run