MEET THE
HOME SQUAD
Rita Beard // @rita_beard
Wannabe collegiate baller who left the sport after a sidelining injury, turned to running while in college and kept it going to minimize stress while in law school. Rita is currently rising the ranks with an impressive number of career wins in local triangle races. With a preference for long distance, Rita has traditionally focused on the marathon and ran a huge PR at the 2020 Chevron Houston Marathon.
Fun Fact: She won the Krispy Kreme Challenge by eating 12 doughnuts & running 5 miles under 37 minutes.
Highlights:
Marathon PR of 2:51 at the 2020 Chevron Houston Marathon
2017 Keep Raleigh Independent Winner
2017 Holden Beach Half Winner
3 time SAS 5K Champ
4 time Cary Road Race 10k Champ
Shari Eberhard // @shaebae_runs
As an engineer at heart, Shari loves to look at times and analysis of paces. She recently graduated with her Masters in Industrial & Systems Engineering from NC State, having earned her undergrad degree from Purdue University. While at Purdue, she competed on varsity for cross country and track & field, earning multiple Big Ten and Regional appearances. After graduation, Shari found her groove in (much) longer distances and has since competed in 6 marathons and many half marathons. Her favorite distance is the marathon, but don’t underestimate the 0.2 at the end! She has been described as a wind-up toy; set the pace, set her free, and she will keep that constant pace indefinitely. Shari qualified for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials at the Chicago Marathon on her home turf!
Fun Fact: In her opinion, the coolest pets are guinea pigs.
Highlights:
2nd at the 2017 Indy Mini – Half Marathon
Top 100 Female in the 2017 Chicago Marathon
Top 100 Female in the the 2018 Boston Marathon
Winner of the 2019 Oak Island Half Marathon
2nd at the 2019 Wrightsville Beach Marathon
2020 Olympic Trials Participant
Kim (Ruck) Maloney // @kimbo.slice18
Kimberly moved to North Carolina in 2018 after a highlighted career with the Greenville Track Club (GTC) Elite in South Carolina. She graduated from Clemson University in 2012, leaving with 2 ACC Champion titles, an All-American title, and multiple NCAA championship appearances. After a successful career at Clemson, Kimberly continued her education at the University of South Carolina and continued her running career post-collegiately with GTC Elite. After moving to NC and taking a short break from competitive running, Kimberly joined RDP and resumed competitive running while working full time at the UNC in Chapel Hill. With personal bests like a 16:01 5k and a 33:16 10k, Kimberly has goals on the horizon to compete at the national and world level. She already chipped away at this goal when she ran her first marathon in January of 2020 and qualified for the 2020 USA Marathon Olympic Trials.
Fun Fact: Kim never ran in high school and “walked-on” to the Clemson cross-country and track team her sophomore year of college.
Highlights:
2020 Olympic Trials Participant
OTQ at the Chevron Houston Marathon in 2:43:01
ACC champion in the indoor 5k in 2010
ACC champion in 10k in 2011
3 time NCAA qualifier
USA 10k Championship participant in 2011.
Nikki Long // @nikki_noodles10
Nikki is a Coloradoan who has been running competitively since she won the district mile in 3rd grade! She placed in the top 10 in 10 events at the Colorado State Track and Field Championships throughout her time competing for Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins. She then went on to compete for Boston University Track and Field and Cross Country, where she was team captain. During her 5 years at BU, she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Archaeology and Biological Anthropology and a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice. Post-collegiately, Nikki competed for the Battle Road Track Club out of Boston, where she lowered several of her college PRs. She helped the team earn a 5th place finish at the USATF Club Cross Country Championships in 2015. In 2016, Nikki moved back to Colorado and lived and trained at altitude, and worked at a museum and an archaeology consulting firm. She moved to Raleigh in 2019 to begin a PhD program at NC State in Forensic Anthropology. While at altitude, Nikki was sponsored by Altitude Running, a local running store, and competed unattached. Nikki is eager to return to a team atmosphere!
Fun Fact: Nikki (trailname: wind in the willows) was one of the first 10 people to hike the Oregon Desert Trail (8th to be exact), a 750 mile route from Bend, OR to the Lake Owyhee State Park! She's also hiked the Hayduke Trail, a 812 mile route from Arches National Park to Zion National Park.
Highlights: mile PR in 4:48 at the Boston University Terrier Classic
Caity Ashley // @__caityashley
Caity is a Northern Virginia native who stumbled into collegiate running after the cross country coach at Roanoke College recruited her to join the cross country team. Already committed to playing soccer at the school in the fall, Caity willingly said she would join the track team in the spring, having never competed in track and field previously. In her freshmen season, Caity fell in love with the sport, the team, and the freedom she felt while running. She found early success, earning a title as the 2014 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Track and Field Rookie of the Year. Caity has been committed to the sport since then, finishing her tenure at Roanoke College as both a cross country and track and field athlete and serving as a team captain for her remaining three years. She earned All-Region honors in both cross country and track and field and finished with two conference titles in the 3000m steeplechase. Since graduating in 2017, Caity has been finding her groove in the longer distances that coaches in organized athletics never let her train for (she has been trying to slip into offseason marathons for many years). She is currently a Master of Public Health student at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studying to become a Registered Dietitian.
Fun Fact: Caity wore her Yellowstone National Park t-shirt gifted from her grandparents for the mile run every year in elementary school (where she still holds the school record)!
Allie Triskett // @allieet10
Allie grew up in Cleveland, Ohio with her Mom, Dad, and two sisters. She played volleyball, basketball, softball, soccer, and swimming as a young girl and loved being active and playing out in the yard. When she got into her sophomore year of high school she found her love for running and decided to join the track team. By the end of her senior year she held the school record in 5 events: 800, 1600, 3200, 5k (cross country), and was a part of the DMR. She decided that she wanted to run in college and walked on to the University of Dayton cross country and track teams. Allie ended up being on the top 25 All-Time list in the 5k and 6k for cross country and was top 5 All-Time in the steeplechase and the 3,000m run. Allie was also an NCAA east regional qualifier in the steeplechase. She earned a Bachelors in Education and Health Sciences where she majored in Pre-Physical Therapy. She now is a student physical therapist at Duke University.
Fun Fact: Allie loves anything to do with coffee and enjoys hiking and bike riding. Allie is also an aunt to two little girls, Isabella, and Anastasia, as well a Godmother to Isabella.
Alumni
These women will always have a place with RDP!
Although they are no longer part of the competitive roster, these women have had important roles in helping with the growth and success of the Raleigh Distance Project.
