Runners Roost has been a locally owned business since 1977. One of the many ways we have realized our longevity is through community. At Runners Roost we feel it is important for us to understand our community as well as for our community to know who we are. With that we will be featuring some of our staff in our regular blog content so you can meet us and our friendship with our Colorado community can rise to new elevations.
Who is Steve Honda
I have come to believe that every organization has someone like me. You know, the person who prefers to do the behind-the-scenes stuff. The person who would rather be behind a desk than sweat nervously in front of a customer. The person in the office you go to when there is a problem. Although my title of Controller may sound impressive to some, my normal workday could include anything from analyzing a new business initiative or preparing monthly financial statements, all the way to cleaning the restrooms or ordering pens. It is a job that I wouldn’t trade for any other.
I started working at Runners Roost in 2012 after spending the prior 24 years working in college administration. Going from a daily wardrobe of dress slacks and a tie, to shorts and running shoes was an easy adjustment. Transitioning from talking with professors and their PhD’s, to runners and their PR’s was a refreshing change. Having the opportunity to combine my business school background with a love for the sport of running sealed the deal.
Growing up, I played virtually every type of team sport, all which included some amount of running. During that time, though, I always thought why would anyone want to do just running? Wasn’t that what you did if you were being punished? I think the year was 2001 that I had my Forrest Gump moment. I was already in my early 40’s. The kids were now in their middle-school years, and I needed to find something for myself. (To this day, I refuse to call it a mid-life crisis.) For reasons I can’t explain, one day I decided to go out for a run. The next day I did it again. And then the next. I made a simple goal to complete the Bolder Boulder. I never hurt so much than after that first 6.2 mile race. But somehow those early painful runs created a personal challenge within me to want to keep going. Since then, I have completed 29 marathons, and am always on the search to find the next one.
As someone who has always needed accountability and structure, I learned early on that training on my own was not going to work. But it did take some effort to convince myself to break out of my shell and run with a group. In 2007, I joined the local running group, Runner’s Edge of the Rockies, and have been a member since. Through the years, running has exposed me to a world outside of my own little bubble, and taught me that people can actually be very interesting. I have met some of my best friends on a 20-mile run. I have also been able to convince my wife to take vacations in cities across the country that coincidentally just happen to be having a marathon that weekend.
As I soon approach my 60th birthday, I still feel like I have many miles ahead of me. I still get excited when I look at my training plan and it shows a 16 mile long run. I still love to touch the new shoes when they arrive in our store’s warehouse area. And I still laugh to myself when I think that it all started because one day I woke up and decided to go for a run.
Now it’s time to get back to my spreadsheets, and maybe order some toner for the printer…
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