We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Arvin Lopez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Arvin below.
Arvin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
The LADWPacers Running Club formed in 2019. I was just a regular club member at the time. The Club start off great, with a lot of enthusiasm and interest. We had organized runs and good participation in local races (2019 Catalina Half Marathon/10K and the 2020 Los Angeles Marathon). Then, Covid hit. Lockdowns happened and the momentum we had in forming our running club was stalled. Our Club President, Alan Figueroa, was doing the best he can in keeping the Club “running” despite no longer being able to get together. I decided to help him out. But how could we engage the Club members in these Covid times? We needed Club merchandise. Since there were mask mandates, I thought gaiters with the Club logo would be essential once lockdowns were lifted. I researched a few companies and had some samples produced. Once I decided which one to go with, I took orders for the gaiters. We had a good response and were able to deliver the goods. Next, I decided to step it up and decided it was time we had Club shirts. After coming up with a design and getting some samples, I took orders again. But the rollout of these shirts wasn’t as smooth. It was around this time that supply chain issues were hitting merchants across the country. Eventually, we did receive the shirts and were able to distribute them. Around this time, I started sending out a weekly Club Announcements e-mail. It contained news on Member’s achievements, organized runs (things were starting to open up), some running tips and some running memes for some laughs. It felt like these little building blocks was helping to shape our Running Club and get it through Covid. An outcome of these moments was I became the Vice-President of the Running Club. I’ve continued in this role and am still looking for new ways to engage our membership and grow our Club.
Arvin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Running never interested me when I was growing up. I started my running journey in my early 40s and it was not by choice. A friend of mine called me up one day and told me he was giving me an early Christmas present. He had entered me into the 2014 Surf City Half Marathon. Well, he was at least a good friend and gave me 3 months to train. So, I trained and ran the Surf City Half. The first half of the race felt good…the second half not so good. But it got me hooked. I started looking for races to enter and ran my first marathon at the 2015 Los Angeles Marathon. I started running with some people at work who would become the founding members of the LADWPacers Running Club when I was invited to run the 2017 Ragnar SoCal Road race with them. I was a little hesitant because I considered myself an average runner. Plus, being an introvert, meeting and hanging out with new people cramped inside a van was not really appealing. But, I went ahead and accepted their invitation and have never looked back. Running with them has taught me the importance of community. I feel my story is no different than other runners. As a human trait, we tend to internalize our emotions and struggles. Runners, especially, do this. The truth is we’re not alone and unique in our struggles. More often than not, others are going through the same issues. As Vice-President of the LADWPacers Running Club, I try to convey that message to our members and be relatable through a column I write for our Club Newsletter.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
Patience. Succeeding in running does not happen overnight. I’ve run 15 marathons and I still don’t think I’ve learned everything about running it. But that’s just my personal story. In running, success means different things to different people. For one person, it could be finishing a 5K in under 20 minutes. For another, it could be just finishing a marathon. For me, measuring my success is ever-evolving. I just finished running the 2024 Los Angeles Marathon. I had a personal goal of completing it in 4:45 or as long as I finished under 5:00. I finished in 4:51 which was a little off my personal goal but I was very happy with my race. I improved by 12 minutes from last year’s LA Marathon, and for me, this was a successful race.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I recently ran the Ragnar Trail So Cal event. It’s a team running relay event consisting of 8 team members. We had 2 team members who had to drop out a few weeks before the race. We were able to replace one of them but ended up still 1 member short by the time the race. The only solution was for some of our team members to pick up an extra leg to cover for the missing runner. As team captain, I decided to pick up the longest of the 3 extra legs: an 8 mile run with 2,000 ft of elevation. The extra challenge with picking up this leg was my regular run in the same round was also the 8 mile run with about an hour rest in between. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy but was ready for the challenge. My strategy was to save my legs on the uphills and run the downhills. It worked perfectly on my first 8-miler. On my second 8-miler, it was going according to plan until I twisted my ankle on a downhill run about 2 miles into the loop. I test it out on some short downhills but ultimately decided to just walk the rest of the loop. It was after midnight and my legs were tired. I didn’t want to risk a more serious injury. As I walked the loop, I enjoyed the starry sky and the calm of the night. I was happy to finish the loop and hand it to the next runner. I like to think I’m a tough runner and this showed I can handle adverse situations.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladwpacers/
Image Credits
Daniel Rocha, Arvin Lopez