Meet our Mascot Eugene | Run Geek Run

Who is Eugene?

I was excited to join the Ironistic family in 2016 when I was asked to become the mascot for the annual charity 5K race, RUN! GEEK! RUN!

38 years young (and single — hey ladies!!) I come from humble beginnings, growing up in Northern Virginia as an only child to loving, hard-working parents. As I grew up, my mother, a professor of computer science at a local university and avid marathon runner, and father, an airplane mechanic at a local military base, were always coding or building something around the house, which I believe is what led me to my passion for programming languages and cybernetics. Upon receiving my college degree, I just wanted to make a difference in the world. I began my post-graduate career as a software developer at a large data firm, believing in the power of big data, but left soon after to find greater fulfillment. Through my mother’s connections, I found that fulfillment when I landed a position teaching a programming curriculum that I helped develop for middle schoolers.

I met one of the owners of Ironistic, Chris Foss, by chance at an underground comic book trading ring (legal, we promise). As we got to talking, Chris mentioned that I might be a good candidate to represent the spirit of the RUN! GEEK! RUN! event, and when he asked me to join the team, I jumped at the opportunity. The rest is history!

When I’m not working with the kids, or cheering on racers, you can find me on any number of comic book forums (@EugVad3r05), playing video games (xx_EugRulez_xx), or working on my couch to 5K virtual reality training for the next RGR race.

Want to join Team Eugene? Register for the 2024 race today and just type in “Team Eugene” in the JOIN A TEAM section, with the password Eugene2024. We took 2nd place in 2017 and are planning on taking 1st in 2024!

More About Eugene

  • Heroes: Bill Gates and Stan Lee
  • Like Madonna, I have no last name.
  • I speak four languages. Three of them are sometimes (depending on who you ask) considered fictional.
  • Since I know you’ll ask, it’s genetic, I’ve been bald since birth.
  • My hobbies include: reading ingredients and nutritional facts on foods, taking electronics apart, DJing video game tournaments, cosplay, Dungeons & Dragons, online dating, and virtual running.
  • I’m on Facebook!