Finance Exec Hits Stride

Finance Exec Hits Stride
By JONATHAN DIAMOND
Friday, November 25, 2016

In just a little more than two decades, Jeff Runyan has competed in about 50 marathons and triathlons throughout the country, from New Mexico to Missouri, Tennessee to Kansas. Runyan, the 41-year-old owner of Runyan Capital Advisors in Beverly Hills, said he relishes the discipline required to train for such events.

“I may not be the fastest racer, but I’m usually pretty strong, performing at the same speed for a long, sustained period of time,” he said.

Runyan returned last month from the Island House three-day triathlon in the Bahamas, an invitation-only event. After two days of racing solo, he (along with nine other chief executives) were paired up with professional triathletes – many of them former Olympians – to compete for a cash prize. Runyan’s team won and they donated their $5,000 purse to charity.

Runyan’s pre-race ritual includes fueling up with oatmeal or peanut butter and jelly on a bagel, and then listening to music to help focus, anything from Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” to “All the Way Up” by Fat Joe. Training for these events requires discipline and commitment, said Runyan, and this concentration spills over into his business life as well.

Because triathlons are a solo sport, he often does his best thinking about 20 minutes into the competition, when he hits a stride and begins to zone out.

“All of a sudden you get a lot of clarity and lucidity,” he said. “That is when my best ideas come out.”