Eric Lerude: Attorney discovers it's OK to quit your day job to run
by Linda Kay Hardie
Reno Gazette-Journal
September 17, 2006

Third-generation Nevadan Eric Lerude quit working full time as an attorney to run for a living.

He started running six years ago. It started out as a way to keep in shape, but then Lerude ran Oregon's Hood To Coast relay three years ago.

In the relay, teams of a dozen runners take turns on a course hundreds of miles long, running throughout the day and night.

"You've done something healthy," Lerude said. "And crazy. It's like an adult slumber party. You get to stay up all night and act goofy."

This may sound cliché, but it changed his life, he said.

"I came home from that event in 2003, working as a full-time attorney," Lerude said. "I said to my wife Stephanie, 'I think I've finally figured out what I need to do with my life. I need to create an event like that here in Reno-Tahoe.' "

And so he has. Reno-Tahoe Odyssey recently completed its second year, with a 178-mile course that begins in Reno, runs through Truckee and around Lake Tahoe, then down into Carson City, up into Virginia City and back to Reno.

The course runs through two states, eight counties, six cities, two towns, three different national forests, and 35 relay exchange points, each with a different private property owner.

It's a logistical nightmare that only an attorney could love, dealing with all these disparate entities for permission to have close to 900 runners come through. That's about double the number of participants over the event's first year.

"That was a herculean task. But it was worth it to put together a beautiful, challenging and fair course," Lerude said.

Fellow lawyer Steven Polikalas has known Lerude for 35 years, through grade school and high school, after which they went to different colleges and law schools. They kept in touch through it all.

Polikalas said his friend is very passionate about his new-found career, although he isn't sure whether this change is crazy or the smartest thing Lerude's done.

"Both," Polikalas said with a laugh. "All of us need to take a cue from Eric and do what we're passionate about.

"He had about 100 percent more runners in year two than in year one, and with that type of exponential growth, I think it will turn out to be an astounding success for him and the best thing he's ever done."

"The Reno-Tahoe Odyssey is such a feel-good event," Lerude said. "It allows me to give back in a number of different ways. I'm always looking to make the world a better place and this event does just that."

Lerude gives back to the community not only by putting on an event that attracts tourist dollars to the area, but he also donates cash to local charities. The Angel Kiss Foundation and the Tahoe/Pyramid Bikeway were the recipients the past two years.

Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority, Intuit, Microsoft Licensing and IGT are just a few of the local businesses that sponsor the event.

Kathy Hess, owner of Just Imagine Marketing and Design, is a member of Silver State Striders, Reno's official running club.

"When you look at Nevada, we're trying to position ourselves as an outdoor recreation destination," she said. "What a perfect event to put on."

She said Lerude has the "perfect personality" for this.

Her team this year included people from out of state, including from back East and the Bay Area. She said Lerude made sure he met all the runners, and that impressed her teammates.

" 'How cool is this, we actually met the event coordinator of it all,' " she quoted teammates. "He's very personable. When you're a race director, you've got to be a coach and also a referee. And he's quite a runner himself."

Lerude's wife and sons run, too, but they're not quite as caught up in the passion as he is. Ironically, her team was chosen to be in the Hood To Coast Relay this year (a run that's so popular teams are turned away), while his wasn't.

"She also caught the relay bug, but she didn't quit her day job like I did," Lerude said.

Chuck Martin, owner of Eclipse Running, knew Lerude's wife first, because she had been a runner much longer.

"Now I see more of Eric," he said.

Martin is full of admiration for the hard work Lerude has done to put together a relay run that's getting a lot of buzz among runners.

"He's very passionate about it," Martin said. "That's not always true about people putting on events, and you wonder what their motives are. Eric's doing everything he can to do it right and make it comfortable for the runners and make it a good experience. I've done the race two years in a row and I think he's accomplished that."

"Making a living as a lawyer pays better than making a living as an event director. But I think, for me, the best fit is putting on this relay run," Lerude said.

"My experience as an attorney has helped me as I travel my own odyssey re-making myself to some degree as an event director."

Name/age: Eric Lerude, 42.

Hometown: Reno.

Positions: President, People Burning Fat Productions, Inc.; event director and founder, Reno-Tahoe Odyssey Relay Run Adventure; Attorney, Law Office of Eric W. Lerude.

Career: President, People Burning Fat Productions, Inc., Reno, 2004-06; attorney/owner, Law Office of Eric W. Lerude, Reno, 2005-06; assistant general counsel, GameTech International, Incl, Reno, 2000-04; shareholder and associate, Jones Vargas/Vargas & Bartlett, Reno, 1996-00; associate, Woodburn and Wedge, Reno, 1994-96; associate, Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May, Oakland, Calif., 1989-94.

Education: Bachelor of science, finance, Santa Clara University,

1986; doctor of jurisprudence, University of San Francisco School of Law, 1989.

Professional associations: Running USA; Nevada Bar Association; California Bar Association; Washoe County Bar Association.

Volunteer: Secretary/board member, Angel Kiss Foundation; Nevada Humanities Young Chautauqua Program; co-chair, Parish Future Committee/former chancellor, Trinity Episcopal Church; various running/triathlon events; trail building efforts.

Family: Wife, Stephanie; sons: Griffin, 13, Ben, 11.

Hobbies: Running, travel, history, golf, basketball, skiing, hiking, mountain biking.

Contact: www.renotahoeodyssey.com, 825-3399.

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