PFA Updates

Aug 11, 2022

As the Presper Financial Architects team prepares to #RunTheBlueLine, we’re shining the spotlight on each one of our relay team members. Next up is marketing specialist and team captain Lauren Dangel.

How did you get into running? What's your background in running or other sports? 

I only ran in my first race last year when I had the chance to run in the Akron Marathon Team relay with the PFA team! I’ve dealt with asthma my whole life and never thought I could do anything even close to a relay leg. I can confirm it is not easy being wheezy. I started my current role in April of 2021 and our previous marketing specialist asked me if I wanted to take her place on our relay team. Having some first-day jitters, I said, “Sure!” On the drive home that day, however, I found myself thinking, “What did you just do?!?!” Nevertheless, I got out there a few times a week, every week, and didn’t walk once during my leg on race day, not even on Garman.

I had brief gymnastics and softball careers in elementary school, but aside from those and my storied hat trick in seventh grade gym class floor hockey, my relationship to sports involves blogging and complaining about Notre Dame football. I could make a case for counting high school speech and debate as a sport, but we won’t go there.

How has your training been going? Highs and lows?

My knees hurt much less than they did during last year’s training since I’ve discovered the importance of strength training and spacing out running days. Improving my speed is still a challenge, however. I had so much fun running in my first race last year, I’ll be running in the Shawshank Hustle 7k race in Mansfield this weekend!

What are your favorite songs on your running playlist? What are some of the most surprising songs on that playlist?

My running playlist is a thoughtfully curated but hopelessly cluttered mix of decades, genres, moods, and tempos, so you could say every song is a surprise! Some of my favorite motivators have been “Legendary” by Welshly Arms and “The Lion, the Beast, the Beat” by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. There’s “Lo/Hi” by the Black Keys, which will be my walk-up song when I get called up to the Cleveland Guardians. There’s “Miss You” by the Rolling Stones for when I’m feeling seventies vibes, and I often do. The biggest guilty pleasures on there would probably be “The Boys of Summer” by Don Henley, and “Don’t Lose My Number” by Phil Collins.

Shoe of choice?

I’m still working with the Saucony Kinvaras I bought for last year’s race, but the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2s have tempted me, lately. They come in a shade of green that would go perfectly with our team’s race day shirts!

What have you enjoyed most about past races? What are you most excited for? Any other thoughts you'd like to share? 

I ran the fifth and final leg of the race last year; the excitement of crossing the finish line after working for months to build my endurance took a long time to wear off! I’m excited to be a part of the race day atmosphere for a second time and happy to be running for an important cause.

Want to support our team’s cause? Donate through Lauren’s Race Roster link!