Sam Welch is regional HOKA rep. and trail runner from Chicago, Illinois. He got started as a soccer player, but after he didn’t make the team in High School, Sam tried track and cross country and immediately fell in love. In college, running for him became a lifestyle- living with teammates and running twice a day. After college, he entered the workforce as a teacher, but found it difficult to continue running, and gained 20-30 pounds. He decided it was time to start running again, and eventually became a field service rep for HOKA. With his renewed focus and enthusiasm toward running, Sam has been running further and faster than ever before. In 2016 he set personal records in distances ranging from 5k to Marathon. He even completed his first Ironman triathlon. Looking forward, he hopes to try some longer trail races like a 50k or 50 miler.