This week's East Nasty of the Week (ENOW) is super fast, got married recently and has a big birthday this week. Hint: it rhymes with "forty"... Nasties, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Brad Mitchell!

Brad was born and grew up in Buford, GA. He played drums in middle school band and guitar in a rock band. The highlight of the rock band was playing at a band concert where they shocked a few grandmothers by serenading them with Aerosmith's “Dude Looks Like a Lady”. Entering high school, he gave up his musical endeavors to focus on weight training class. He remembers struggling in weight training when the coach took them out on the track to run 1.5 miles. So no early running career here.

Holding a falcon in at a souq (market) in Doha, Qatar

Brad studied computer science at Georgia State, but dropped out during the late 90’s when company’s paid well and didn’t care about degrees. In 2010, he went back to school and completed his degree at Belmont University. He now works as a technology consultant for Oracle Partner.

Brad started running about 10 years ago, but didn't get serious about it until joining East Nasty in 2011. He says, "You can’t miss East Nasty if you Google “running groups in Nashville”. I saw the website and showed up for the Wednesday night run in spring of 2011." His biggest accomplishment in running is his 1:45 PR at the 2012 CMM, which he says he could not have done without Steve Lund pacing him and pushing him through mile 12.

The friendships and someone to chat with on long runs is what Brad enjoys most about East Nasty, saying, "It’s amazing how anywhere I go in town I typically see a friend from EN. My kids think I’m super popular!" Brad's most memorable East Nasty experience is that Wednesday night when he met his wife Colleen at the run, which was also the first night they ran the Musica out and back route.

Wife and recent ENOW, Colleen says, "Brad is wonderful. He is friendly, nice, and usually has a smile on his face. He pushes himself, and pushes others around him, which has made him a wonderful coach for P2T. He is a good guy to have as a partner in life, and on a run. He even talked me into signing up for my first road and trail half marathons within a couple of months of knowing him, so beware, all of you! He makes crazy feats sound like so much fun, and they usually are a good time."

"Colleen and my kids Amelia and Wesley hanging out with me in the Everglades"

When Brad's not running, he enjoys hiking and has recently taken up archery with his kids. He says, "World travel is great too!"

Brad, congrats, happy birthday and welcome to the ENOW club!