Zooma Napa Valley Runner Report: Heather from Clovis

I have been traveling all week from Portland to LA to San Diego. Now I am back home for 15 hours before heading to the airport tomorrow morning at 6am for a quick weekend trip to Palm Springs.  I did want to take a quick break from my jetsetter lifestyle to bring you week 2 of our Zooma Runner Report Series:

The ZOOMA Napa Valley Ambassadors are excited to bring you our Zooma Napa Valley Runner Report Series. Each week we’ll be featuring a ZOOMA Napa Valley half marathon or 10K runner on each of our blogs. As women runners, we want to use our role as Ambassadors to highlight and share the stories behind the incredible women preparing to run ZOOMA in June. Each runner has a special and unique story, and we invite you to learn about our runners through this series. Please feel free to click through the links at the end of each post to read about additional ZOOMA racers.

For week two, I have the honor of spotlighting Heather from Clovis, CA.  Based on her comments on Mindy Kaling and Delarosa pizza, I am pretty sure we would be besties if we ever met! Heather I hope to see you in Napa and good luck on an awesome race!

Name:   Heather Bender

Age: 42

Current City: Clovis, CA

Race (10K or half marathon): Half Marathon

Why are you running ZOOMA Napa Valley?

 Running and wine, do I need to say more? Being serious, when I heard there was going to be a Women’s focused race in Napa I knew right away I wanted to do it.  I live in the Central Valley but consider myself a Non-Local Local to San Francisco and Napa since we get up there quite often.  I wanted the opportunity to enjoy the views on foot, Zooma Napa is the perfect opportunity to do just that.

When & why did you start running? 

 I flirted with running off and on since I was in Middle School until I was in my mid-thirties.  I started running consistently in March of 2010 when I was told I was pre diabetic. I am a single Mom and I knew I owed it to my son to be as fit and healthy as I could be, I also wanted to set a positive example for him that activity should be part of your everyday life.

How many races have you done & which was your favorite?

Since 2010 I’ve completed six 5k’s, ten 10k’s, nine Half Marathons and one ten miler.  My favorite race was the Mermaid Run 10 miler in San Francisco, the weather was perfect and the views were stunning.

If you could pick one celebrity to run with, who would it be & why?

 I heard Mindy Kaling is a runner, she would be my top choice hands down!  I love her sense of humor and I bet the miles would just fly by.

What is your favorite running memory?

This is extremely simple but when I ran the Livermore Half Marathon at the end of March, I took my phone out about mile 1 and my son (who stayed home) had texted me “Good luck Mama” It meant so much to me that he knows how important my running is to me and that he wanted to show his support.

What is your one running must-have?

Easy, my Road ID

What is your favorite post-run indulgence?

Pizza at Delarosa in San Francisco.  If I’m not running a race in the city I like to get a good Bloody Mary after my run.

Who is your running inspiration?

My friend Victoria, she is an amazing runner!  She’s fast, consistent and she always looks great in her race pictures (how do you do that?)

What is the most important lesson you have learned from running?

Just how amazing my body is!

Want to read about more of our amazing ZOOMA runners? Check them out here: 

Melodie on LongRun Happiness 
Sarah on Running On Waffles 
Susan on Dream Body Warrior 
Chandra on FITNESSMOMWINECOUNTRY 
Beth on Reason To Play 
Susan on The Slow Life

Are you running ZOOMA Napa Valley and would like to be featured in our Runner Report series? Email runningonwaffles@gmail.com for more information