Some people hear about East Nasty from friends or and the popular Google search “Nashville running club”, but this week’s East Nasty, Seth Neumann, found out about the group from his sister and fellow ENOW Sarah Shearer. Before he became a Nashville resident Seth would join Sarah for weekend runs at Shelby or on Wednesday when he was in town. And of course once he moved to Nashville, weekly EN runs became a part of his routine.

Seth grew up in the East Tennessee town of Elizabethton and spent his first 22 years in the Tri Cities area. Growing up Seth wasn’t exactly athletic. He describes himself as “not overweight, but comfortably big boned." Seth started running in high school. He was working at a BBQ restaurant and realized he was feeling horrible. One night after a late shift he decided to just run. He started out with short distances and worked his way up to 5-6 miles at a time. This was before he had a GPS watch, so he has no clue how fast he was going, but he loved the “sensation of running, sweating, and the mental clarity that came with it all.”

Staying in East TN for college, Seth attended East Tennessee State University where he majored in management with an emphasis in human resources. While in college Seth continued to run casually and for health purposes. Seth left TN to attend grad school at the University of Illinois and then took a job in Decatur, IL, which according to Seth is the “armpit of America.” I’ve never been to Decatur, but Seth mentioned this several times, so I’m just going to take his word on this one. While he was living in Decatur Sarah talked him into running the Country Music Half Marathon in 2011. Seth trained on the flat roads of the Armpit of America and finished in 1:47:10, but his body was not accustomed to the Nashville hills and he was walking pretty slow the next day. We’ve all been there Seth and we have felt the pain of Nashville hills.

2013 Huntsville Marathon with Jackson Dugger.

After a pit stop in Chicago, Seth moved to Nashville in June 2012. And since that first half marathon prior to moving to Nashville, Seth has gone on to run many more races from 5k’s to marathons and even an Olympic distance try. He ultimately wants to qualify for Boston and New York Marathons and has plans to race an Ironman in 2015. AND he wants to eventually enter a lumberjack competition.

Seth considers his biggest running accomplishment his 2013 Country Music Marathon finish. His goal was to finish under 3:15 and he finished with a 3:06:51! He’s also enjoyed the 2013 Tom King Classic because he PR’d and was able to run and support his fellow runners and friends (and sister!). It makes sense that Seth’s favorite thing about East Nasty is the people and the friendships he’s made.

Now there are a lot of memorable experience Seth has had with EN, but here are his top 3:

Going down to Wilmington, NC to spectate his sister and Meg Willoughby compete in their first full ironman with a bunch of fellow East Nasties!
Running “The Nasty” for the first time after he moved to Nashville in the middle of summer.
Training with the East Nasty full marathon group during the spring of 2013. It was a super fun and encouraging group.

Cheering squad for Beach 2 Battleship Ironman.

When Seth isn’t running, he works for Ryman Hospitality as a Human Resource Generalist and feels pretty blessed to have his dream job 5 years into his career. Outside of running and staying active, Seth likes spending time with his dog Othello, learning about and trying new wines and beers, and music. I hear he was in a few bands back in the day and he could see himself doing something musical if the right situation came along. This might be the start of an East Nasty band…

Seth with his former band mates from A Healing Season.

I asked his sister Sarah if she had any thoughts to share about Seth and here is what she had to say, "Seth is one of the most fun loving and genuine guys I know- and he just happens to be my brother, as well! He is the youngest of my 3 brothers; and until he relocated to Nashville I had never lived in the same city as an adult with one of my siblings. Now, I can't imagine it any other way! I am so grateful to have him here. It's been a joy to have him share a passion for so many of the things I enjoy in Nashville- community, outdoors, and endurance sports to name a few." Sarah is also thankful for Seth's support when she ran her first marathon in Chicago in 2011 and was happy to return the support when he ran his first marathon in Chicago in 2012.

I know Sarah is sure glad you are in Nashville and we are too! Next time you see Seth (or Sarah Shearer’s brother as I sometimes call him), be sure to congratulate our newest East Nasty of the Week. Way to go Seth!