City Manager Chad Nassif is excited to show you why he fell in love with everything San Diego while he guides you on an epic personalized running tour, sharing with you the city gems, maritime history and insider secrets.
I was born and raised in Southern California and first gravitated towards the coast to attend the University of California in Santa Barbara. My passion for running began there as a therapeutic release and practice in mindfulness. Taking time to appreciate the stunning beauty of the Pacific Coast at my running own pace helped to balance out the long hours in the classroom working to obtain my MA in Economics. Once distance running became a part of my routine, there was really no taking it out of the equation. Daily 5ks quickly turned into regular 10ks and half-marathons. My first organized race winded through the vineyards and foggy country roads of the Santa Ynez Wine Country Half Marathon. The beauty, spirit of competition, comradery and just plain fun sealed the deal to ensure running would always be a part of my life. My career after college developed in the realm of high-end hospitality, wine and tourism. I truly love creating incomparable guest experiences and was always searching for a way to combine that love of hospitality with my passion for running and traveling. No such thing exists right?! Well, low and behold, after surfing the web for a way to explore small European towns quickly on foot, I stumbled across “Sight Running!” Once I saw that such a thing existed, my focus immediately switched from going back to explore Europe to figuring out how I could introduce my city to people exploring California. If this is something I want to do in every city I visit, I thought…how amazing would it be if I could show people with similar interests in history, sightseeing and running, all the beauty of my city! They say it’s all about the timing. Well, this is a perfect case of that.
This amazing company Go! Running Tours was looking for someone to lead the way in the birthplace of California and I was searching for them at the same time. A true match made in global running! The decision to join the Go! Running Tours family as a City Manager was quick and easy after having an amazing conversation with Lena, the co-founder. She also invited me to speak with other City Managers and I immediately bonded with Lapo in Florence over our “Running Addiction” and our passion for the beautiful cities we live in. Granted, we don’t quite have the history and architecture of Florence, there’s no place I’d rather be than here in Sunny San Diego!
Welcome to San Diego! Pack your running shoes and sun tan lotion and I’d love to run, jog or race with you around an old city block or a two…hundred. Then we’ll rip off our running shoes and head to the beach of course!
Cheers, Chad Nassif