Team Member Spotlight

“I started running about 10 years ago,” says Nathan Younger of Austin and seven-year member of the Texas Beef Team.  “At that time, a poor visit to the doctor revealed I had elevated blood pressure, thyroid disease, and was a bit overweight. Through exercise I have managed to get back to good health and keep everything in check.”

Nathan’s children were his initial motivation for taking up running as part of a plan to improve his health.  “I wrote my weight and BMI on my first running shoes and had my kids sign them,” says Nathan. “That kept me committed. The funny thing is, in hindsight, I never planned on running more than three miles at a time!”

However, today he has logged countless miles in training and run dozens of races much longer than three miles! He doesn’t really keep track of his accomplishments, but Nathan does say that his best marathon times are forever etched into his memory – like the 3:28:09 personal best he recorded at the Houston Marathon (and his hoping to break someday soon).  This past year, Nathan finished one of his bucket-list races, Goodwater. This epic trail race consisted of TWO back-to-back marathons around Lake Georgetown.  

Nathan is an instructional design professional who is married with two children, a couple of Schnauzers, and a cat. He’s into motorcycles and alpine skiing, both of which he would like to have more time for. An interesting family backstory is that his uncle is Johnny Trigg, a celebrity chef, well-known competitor on the BBQ circuit, and two-time winner of the prestigious Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational. “Johnny is known for his ribs but his brisket is also fantastic,” reports Nathan. “I really need to learn his techniques!”

Hopefully, you’ll bump into Nathan at an upcoming race. But, in the meantime, read on to learn more:

Favorite Beef Team Memory:  Volunteering at Lifetime Tri in Austin on Memorial Day weekend is a great memory. Both of my kids volunteered at the water stop. I met David Longacre at that event and he and my son got into a water fight after the race was over. It all ended with somebody getting a table of water dumped on them. We still laugh about that day! 

Favorite Races:  I love the 3M Half Marathon, even though I don’t run it every year. When feeling a bit exhausted, I am revived after making that turn into a sea of red and then hearing at our volunteer spot on the course. It is the best support of any race I have ever done. I also enjoy the First Responder Half Marathon in Waco and the Westfest 5K Challenge because West is my home and also my first 5K race ever. I ended up third in my age group that year.

Friendships: More than anything I enjoy the friendships made through Beef Team that continue outside of race day. Also, it’s amazing how representing beef by wearing the Beef Team jersey can create friendships through conversation with other. For example, I ran Rocky 50 nearly two years ago and was asked about Beef Team by a woman from Colorado. I explained to her what we were about and she told me she was a rancher and appreciated us. We continued to chat for a while and she told me about the races she does with Nestor, her burro. We stay in touch via Facebook and I have an open offer to come up and run with one of her rescue burros from the Bureau of Land Management. It’s now on my bucket list.

Inspired By: Once source of inspiration has been the book Born to Run. I listened to it on audio book when I first started running and still go back to it every year when training for a marathon. Last year, I won an autographed copy signed by Manuel Luna and Arnulfo Quimare!

Training Group: I run with No Excuses Except Lightning. COVID slowed it down a little, however, I currently lead the Wednesday night group at Brushy Creek Lake Park in Cedar Park. We meet at 6 PM for some quick drills and then about 3 miles of speed work. We have a short stretch session after. It is free and open to runners and walkers of all abilities. You have an open invitation to come join. I also train with the RADIOactive team when I need to get in some bike time.

Post Race Reward: I treat myself to another race entry. Isn’t that what we do?