Running Tours of Santa Barbara
Running Tours of Santa Barbara in the press
From Noozhawk, 5/30/2008
New WEV Entrepreneurs Put Their Best Ideas Forward
By Sonia Fernandez
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It all began for Jill Harper when she walked into her boss’ office and found a picture of her triumphantly crossing the finish line.
“I said, ‘This is how I want to feel.’ “ While she was an active woman, Harper hadn’t really considered taking up running until she moved to Santa Barbara. Once she started, though, she couldn’t get enough, and the city opened up to her as she ran along miles of shoreline, through beautiful neighborhoods and around the city’s many landmarks. Running became a passion that took her out of the country to races on other shores.
This passion, however, stayed a hobby even when she first went to WEV with her business and running partner to start another kind of venture.
“It really wasn’t working out,” she said. “Something was missing.” After WEV instructor Laurie Ann David asked them where their passion lies, the answer became simple: They needed to be running.
Running Tours of Santa Barbara was born. It’s a venture that incorporates exercise, tourism and the emerging green sensibilities.
How did she know it could work?
“The program taught us how to do the research,” Harper said. After consulting with the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce, Hunter discovered that an average of 30,000 people visit the city every day for business and pleasure. Surely there are a few runners in that number, she reasoned, and came out with a service that caters to the newest of runners who can run short distances and to the most dedicated ones in training, running up to 20 miles per tour.
Harper says that in the long term, she wants small groups of four or five people taking tours throughout the day, with the help of other tour guides/runners from around town.