Our Team

Jamil Coury
Owner & CEO

Jamil started running ultramarathons in 2005 and instantly fell in love with the sport. He took over the direction of the Javelina Jundred in 2008 and started Aravaipa Running in 2009. He has been competing in ultras around the world since and is currently on a quest to finish five loops at the Barkley Marathons.

Nick Coury
Owner

Nick ran his first ultra with Jamil in 2005. He joined Aravaipa in 2010 to help build it over the first half decade and met his wife Lauren at one of the first Aravaipa races. He's a five-time Hardrock finisher, two-time member of the USA 24 Hour Team, and still likes to race 5Ks and everything in between.

Pati Coury
Aid Station Manager

Pati was born in Minnesota but her family moved to Arizona after her 1st birthday. She is so grateful to be a member of this amazing running community. One of her favorite places to explore are the San Juan Mountains in Colorado.

Peter Coury
Owner
Noah Dougherty
Director of Events

Noah grew up in a small town in western Vermont (two room school-house small) and moved to Arizona in the summer of 2003. Having played team sports for years, Noah started running in 2010 looking for something to push the envelope of what we think is possible. “Run 100 miles? Impossible!” Now married with three kids, Noah looks forward to hitting the San Juan mountains each summer as well as Acadia National Park in New England. Fun facts: Noah played the trumpet for about 10 years and he’s seen the band Phish almost 50 times.

Julie Haro
Race Director - Desert Solstice

Originally from Texas, Julie moved to Phoenix in 2018 after spending many years traveling and bouncing around the US. Before working with Aravaipa, she was the director of an outdoor adventure company in the Pacific Northwest where she guided backpacking and mountaineering trips. This love of the outdoors eventually led her to begin running ultras. Fun fact: She has a master’s degree studying the Biology of Anchialine Caves in the Cenotes of Mexico. “Shrimpology” as her husband likes to call it but she did get to spend a lot of time in the Yucatan!

Jubilee Paige
Race Director

Jubilee grew up in a small town in north-central Kansas. After road-tripping around the United States she came to Phoenix in 2008. Volunteering for a desert ultra, Javelina Jundred, in 2014 changed everything when she found the vibrant energy and community of trail running. She finds her passion in serving a community that shares her love of the outdoors and a desire to discover wonders both inward and outward. Her favorite trails are any shared with her dog Fox, her sister Jenna, or her closest friends. Fun fact: She's been taking photos since she was 11 and entering county contests in 4H!

Aaron Schmidt
Race Director

Aaron was born and raised in Maine and grew up loving the outdoors. He began running early on and continued running in high school. After some time off, Aaron picked it up again in his thirties and quickly fell in love with the trails and mountains around Phoenix. He lives close to South Mountain and considers it his home court. He runs, hikes, and bikes there several times a week. When he is not running with friends you can find him spending time with his wife, teenage son, and three dogs.

Andy Clink
Director of Technology
Rebecca Collicott
Creative Director

Rebecca was born in southern California, grew up in south Florida, but has called the valley her home since 2004. Running has been a big part of Rebecca's life since high school but was first exposed to trail running in 2010 when she attended Javelina for the first time as a volunteer and spectator. Not only has Rebecca attended every Javelina since then but she has grown to truly love this community. Living in the West Valley, Rebecca spends most of her trail time in the White Tanks and loves nothing more than exploring this gorgeous state with her family. 

Matt Feldhake
Marketing Director

Having spent his entire life in southern Illinois, Matt finally escaped the chilling Midwest winters in 2015 when he moved to Atlanta. After 6 years there, he made his way out to the great state of Arizona in early 2021. While he started running at a really young age and was fortunate enough to run collegiately at Eastern Illinois University, it wasn’t until 2016 that he ventured into the trail and ultra scene when he ran his first ultra, the North Face Endurance Challenge in San Francisco. Some of his favorite places in the world to run are the Appalachian Trail in northern Georgia and the trail systems in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Senovia Baca
Aid Station Lead
Bryce Brooks
Marketing & Outreach Specialist
Bryce was born in Upland, California but was raised in AZ. It wasn't until Bryce graduated high school that he discovered his passion for the outdoors while day hiking a section of the Arizona Trail in the Superstition Wilderness. Bryce thru-hiked The Arizona Trail in the fall of 2019 and soon after began trail running, mountain biking, and road cycling all around Phoenix. These days you can find Bryce hiking, biking, or running South Mountain daily, usually with his dog, Juice.
Instagram
Jon Bullock
Event Crew
Jon started running obstacle course races ten years ago and eventually moved on to road races, triathlons, and then trail running! He loves the running community and the challenge of pushing the limit with distance, terrain, and goals that sound absurd.
Amber Cheney
Artworx Lead
Amber is an Arizona native who loves to hike anywhere with tall trees and water. Her and her family have been taking road trips during the summer and have visited nearly half of the contiguous United States in the past three years.
Christina Coppola
Printing Lead
Alynn Davis
Event Crew
Alynn lives in Flagstaff, Ariz. and Kanab, Utah with her partner and their two dogs. Her passion for trail running was sparked when her and her partner decided to sign up for a race on a whim. She does not have a trail that she can dub as her favorite; there is so much to explore. To Alynn, trail running is more than just running. It is being in the element, being in the zone, being outdoors. It’s about connecting with the surroundings, bonding with their dogs, bringing closer relations with others, and to simply be.
Fox

Joining Aravaipa in 2018, Fox has found a furever home in the trail running community. You might spot him at a trail race, backpacking with his human, or lounging at Aravaipa HQ. He is always up for an adventure and will be your trail cheerleader if you happen to see him on your run! Favorite things include his human, tall wet grass, long trails, and cheese.

TJ Gardner
Functional Design Lead

TJ was born in New England and played ice hockey for most of his life. The idea of running was the furthest thing from his mind. After graduating college with an architecture degree in 1998 he packed up his VW Jetta and moved to Phoenix, Ariz. It wasn’t until 2016 that he eventually picked up running and 2018 that he hit the trails. San Tan Scramble 17k was his first trail race and he was hooked. He can be found most days running at San Tan, South Mountain, Usery, or McDowell. He hopes to introduce his 3-year-old son to the sport soon (spectator and crew chief to start) and has a goal to run the Cocodona 250 in 2023.

Jen Gustafson
Aid Station Lead

Jen was born in Minnesota and grew up in the Midwest.  Like a good midwestern girl, she used to play hockey and snowshoe race. Before falling in love with ultra-running, Jen competed in triathlons for several years. She moved to Arizona in 2016 and has happily settled into life in the desert. When not running aid stations for Aravaipa, Jen teaches chemistry at Glendale Community College. These days you can find her biking both on the road and on the trail. 

Sabrina Huelga
Event Crew

Sabrina is originally from Southern California and was the super active kid growing up that needed to get their energy out. Sabrina tried all the sports, but really loved running in track, primarily sticking to the 800m and 1 mile race. She continued to run in high school, college, and a little bit after college with a club team when she moved to Phoenix in 2015. Sabrina found a love for the outdoors here and her passion for running just blended together. Sabrina has been running the trails ever since and loves seeing how much she can push herself. When she's not running, she enjoys archery, whiskey, board games, and singing musicals!

Brian Karasek
Artworx Crew

Brian is originally from Ohio but has not lived there since 1996 and doesn’t call it home anymore. His favorite running trails are in Sedona, Ariz. He is particularly captivated by the beauty of the Hangover Trail. Brian currently teaches math and was a member of the World Champion Rockball team in 1998.

Jen Laughlin
Social Media Manager

Jen is a Southern California native who has happily called Arizona her home since 2009. She lives in Buckeye, Ariz. with her husband, three kids, and sassy basset hound, Barnaby. A former college soccer player, Jen has always loved to run. But other than swearing she’d never drink craft beer, she also promised she would never run any distance over 10 miles because that was just “stupid”. She continues to contradict herself, as not only is she now a connoisseur of fine India Pale Ales, but she also finished her first 100 mile race, the Mogollon Monster 100, in September 2021. Clearly, if there is one cliche that holds true for Jen it’s “never say never”. In her spare time, you can find Jen overly excited and enthusiastic about almost everything, hanging out with her twin sister, snowboarding, paddle boarding, being a “cool mom”, and traversing her backyard trails in Skyline Regional Park and the Lost Creek trail system.

Brittany Logan
Event Crew

Brittany moved to Colorado seven years ago on a nomads adventure with plans of rock climbing, hiking and backpacking the entire state. Her love for the mountains led her to start trail running in 2018. Brittany has been racing on and off since she was 15 and completed her first ultra in February 2021. Brittany is a third generation runner from her family but the first to run trails. Fun fact: Brittany convinced her grandparents (77 & 76 years young) to run their first trail race in Wyoming in 2022! These days you can find Brittany on the trails training for R2R2R and accompanied by her two mountain boys Silas and Malakai.

John Maroushek
Warehouse Manager

John was born and raised in Winona, Minn., a small city on the banks of the Mississippi. He ran Cross Country and Track in high school after he discovered that he was too small for football. John ran his one and only marathon in 1986 and finished in 2 hours, 48 minutes; the first teenager to cross the line. In 2014, he moved to Phoenix to escape the never-ending Polar Vortex! After moving to Phoenix, he discovered trail races and ultras. He worked his way up from a 10k (Pass Mountain '14) to a 10-day run (Across the Years '19/20). The performance he is most proud of is his 6-day run at the '18/19 Across the Years. John finished with just under 441 miles, placing him 4th overall in the race and 8th best performance in North America for that year.

Vic Martinez
Artworx Crew
Kelly McFadden
Administrative Assistant

Kelly is originally from Chicago but has lived in Phoenix since moving with her family when she was ten. She has been running off and on since middle school and ventured into the trail running world within the last year. Described by friends as a dirt witch, Kelly enjoys camping, climbing, trail running, and being outside as much as possible. She spends any spare moments reading, writing, and playing with her three daughters. Her favorite trails are any within the Phoenix Mountain range because they are close, easily accessible, and offer diverse training opportunities!

Erin McKnight
Logistics & Fulfillment Manager

Erin is originally from Omaha, Neb. and moved to Arizona almost 20 years ago. Her first job out of college was teaching Industrial Arts (shop classes) to 8th graders. She is married to her adventure partner and has two fur babies that are her world. Erin has been involved with endurance racing since 2003, first in the triathlon world and now happily in the trail running world. She has worked for Aravaipa Running for nearly 6 years and her favorite trail/mountain at this moment is Lookout Mountain, right in her backyard. Oh, she also loves angry music.

Sidney Parks
Graphic Designer

Sidney has lived all over the south but lived most of his life in Texas. Almost everyone in his family is a runner in some shape or form. He went to university at SCAD in Atlanta. His hobbies include reading, writing, and video games. Hope you like the design of the race logos - these days, it's pretty likely to be something he put together!

Enzo Pham
Video Producer / Editor

Raised right here in Phoenix, Arizona, Enzo left high school his freshman year to pursue BMX professionally. After injuring himself, Enzo began to focus more heavily on filming and editing videos. He started teaching himself when he was around ten years old and got most of his experience from filming videos of himself and his friends riding BMX. In 2015, Enzo began working on the event crew for Aravaipa and by 2016 he was working as an editor!

Hanna Real
Aid Station Lead

Hanna grew up in the Chicagoland area and graduated college from Eastern Illinois University before moving out to west to work on wilderness trails throughout Idaho and Montana. She lived in Montana for 5 years before moving to Phoenix with her partner and their dog, Jude, at the end of 2018. In 2020 she ran her first ultra, Black Canyon 60K, and fell in love with ultras and trail running.

Nicole Roberts
Production Administrator

Nicole grew up in a small rural town in Pennsylvania and has now lived in six states including Arizona. Her love of hiking and trail running started in Virginia along the Appalachian trail. Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail is her ultimate bucket list adventure! The trail is Nicole’s quiet place to think and reset her mind. The more deserted the trail, the better, which leads to lots of early morning runs. The trails at Deem Hills recreation area are at the core of her routine but when she needs a change of pace, she will head out to the Sonoran Desert Preserve, Dixie Mountain on the south end, or Apache Wash on the north side.

Mike Santos
Event Operations Manager

Mike has been on the Aravaipa event crew for almost four years. He grew up in the Bay Area and studied radio & TV broadcasting. He worked at KNBR radio in San Francisco and FOX Sports News in Los Angeles. Mike gained an interest in working events after working the Kentucky Derby several times and the PGA Championship once. Fun fact: Mike was a Spartan Race national age group champ and he played in a steel drum band in college. He has also eaten more McRibs than any person in history.

Jordan Schmidt
Event Crew
Devin Sharps
Event Crew

Devin grew up in Seattle, where he ran cross country for his high school and track for Junior Olympics. He moved to California to become a Marine and was stationed in San Diego for four years. Devin finally made his way to Arizona to be closer to his family in 2021. Now, South Mountain is practically his backyard and one of his favorite routes to run is around Hidden Valley.

Misty Stevenson
Artworx Crew
Originally from southern California, Misty relocated to Arizona during the summer of 1991...not the best time to move to this beautiful state, but it happened anyway and she's grown to love it here! Misty didn't start running until 2013. Her running journey began purely by accident after participating in a few obstacle course races that year. Soon after, she was running short distances both on road and trails, graduating to middle distances a few years later, and running her first ultra in December of 2019. 
 
Misty was a member of the Aravaipa community as a volunteer for roughly 6 years before joining the team as a staff member in May 2022. Actively giving back to the community is important to Misty and is one of the reasons she's volunteered with Aravaipa for so many years. In her free time, she finds other ways to give back as much as possible, tends to sign up for just about any crazy race/event idea her friends suggest (just ask her how signing up for that first 50k came about...), enjoys spending time with family & friends, and showers her pup Ivy with as much unconditional love as possible! 
Marcel Van der Stroom
Artworx Crew

After 30 years in the flat and rainy Netherlands, Marcel moved to Arizona for mountains and sunshine in 2009. He left the corporate world in 2020 to support shelter animals through the pet photography organization he founded. Marcel loves to spend his early mornings on the trails of South Mountain. His favorite route is the 13-mile Alta - Ranger - National loop on the far west side of the park.

Matt Van Loan
Artworx Crew

Our Core Values

Get Outdoors

We grew up exploring the deserts, mountains, canyons and forests of Arizona. Getting outdoors is part of our heritage and is in our blood. We feel most alive on a trail, experiencing the solitude and restorative power of nature. Come explore with us.


Community

We are more than just an event management company. We are committed to the development of a vibrant community centered around being active in the outdoors.

We started our weekly group run for this purpose and it really feels like family. Form new friendships and get involved, we are waiting with open arms.

Attention to detail

It's been said that its the little things that count. Our events strive to impress even on the smallest detail. From our course markings, pre-race email, chip timing, convenient packet pickups to unique awards we want to make your event experience flawlessly smooth and something you can count on.

Did we miss something? We guarantee to make it right. Contact us and we'll be glad to help.


We Create Fun

What is an event if it isn't fun? We aim to create a fun yet laid back vibe at our events that intangibly just makes you have a good time. From music to wood fired pizza, beer gardens, meeting new friends, beautiful trails to stunning sunrises and star filled nights, having fun is easy.

Join our Team!

We are constantly looking to add passionate people to our team!

Employment Opportunities

Find out about available positions and apply today!

Jobs Page

Get in Touch


We always love to hear from our runners. Our office and store is usually open on weekdays (depending on our race schedule) so feel free to stop on by. You can reach out to us below through social media, phone or email.
The address listed is also our business mailing address.

Contact


Address 2401 S. 24th Street

City, State, Zip Phoenix, AZ 85034

Phone 602.346.0554

Email info@aravaiparunning.com