December’s employee spotlight is bittersweet. This month we spotlight =PR= Fairfax Store Manager Erik Stafira. Erik has been part of the =PR= family for four years. He started as a part-time employee picking up shifts between his college classes at George Mason University. He continued to grow with the company as a full-time staff member helping at a number of store locations but always found his core time in Fairfax. Eventually, Erik took the responsibility of managing the store. Erik has grown with the team over the years and has always been dedicated to serving the Fairfax community and creating lasting friendships with the tight knit team of staff that make up Fairfax or as they like to say “Funfax”. =PR= crew member Jason Kain writes “Erik helped make =PR= Fairfax so much fun I never felt like I was at work. I always enjoyed our discussions about sports and Star Wars. I will never forget all the fun we had at staff happy hours, races, and other fun =PR= Funfax events.” There’s a good chance if you ever ran a =PR= Race you ran by Team Fairfax running together in style. This month we will say goodbye to Erik as he heads out to start a new adventure in Greenville, North Carolina with his fiancé, Jenna and dog Lucky. The =PR= Family would like to thank Erik for his hard work, commitment, and always bringing the Fun to Fairfax. You will be missed! Best of luck on your next chapter in life with Jenna and Lucky.
Q U I C K Q U E S T I O N S
Runner/Employee Full Name: Erik Stafira
Age Category: 1,000+
Favorite PR Race: Birthday Bash!!!! Located in Fairfax Corner!
Favorite Race of All Time: Winston-Salem Craft Half – Free beer just for running?!
First Race Ever: Some halloween race when I was VERY little with my Aunt. I don’t know what race it was, but I do know I dressed up as a cowboy!
Best Race Memory: Running in states in high school cross country. Our team worked really hard that year to qualify for states.
How did you get started running or walking? My high school cross country coach offered me a free t-shirt on the condition that I ran for the team that year.
Favorite Running Event/Distance? I LOVE the 10 mile distance. Just far enough to use endurance but still short enough that I can pretend to go fast 🙂
What is your favorite part about running/racing?
Running: Going out and spending time with friends and just getting to talk without any distractions (because the talking is the distraction from running haha).
Racing: Getting to show off all the hard work from training!
Who is your biggest cheerleader/supporter? My fiancé, Jenna, and my parents. They are always there to cheer me on during my big races.
What is your Spirit Animal? Why? Bears because they just get to walk around the woods eating fun berries.
What is your life’s motto? Words to live by? Two makes the road shorter. It’s an old Irish saying that someone told me about during a training run.
Favorite PR Memory: The one time Aaron (Former =PR= Fairfax Manager) cut his leg during the Reston 10 Miler… I’ll just leave it at that.
Thing You Will Miss The Most About the =PR= Family, Customers, Store: The sense of family. Everyone in =PR= has a lot of love for each other and the company. I’m going to miss being able to just chat on the phone with co-workers, catching up with regular customers about their training and races, and just working with people that value each other.
What’s one tradition/memory you will leave in Fairfax? I hope they keep making funny memes about Burke.
T H I S O R T H A T
Distance – Long or Short
Post Race Snack – Banana or Bagel
Running Company – Alone or Together
Time of Day – Rise and Grind (Morning) or Night Time is the Right Time (Evening) – The bed is too comfy and I get grumpy in the mornings 🙂
Location – Road Runner or Trail Crusher …. But I wish I got out onto the trails more
Run – Workout or Long Run… TRACK WORKOUTS!!!!!!
Top Shoes/Spikes Picks:
1) Hoka Rincon
Top 3 Items:
Top 3 Fun Facts, Tell Us Something About Yourself!
1) Pizza with a side of chips and salsa is my favorite meal
2) I watch WAAAAAY too much YouTube
3) I play miniature wargames with my friends
Favorite place to run or train:
1) Anywhere that is NOT a treadmill
2) W&OD Trail
3) Burke Lake Park
Three words to describe the FUNfax staff:
1) Introverted
2) Goofy
3) Family
Racing is . . . nerve racking.
Running is . . . relaxing.
My last run was a . . . family run.
My favorite thing about running is . . . being outside!
If I wasn’t running I’d be . . . playing with Lucky (my dog).
If I wasn’t running I’d be . . . doing crafts
We asked Erik to describe Team FunFax in just one word and here’s what he said!
JT – Collector
Jason – Caring
Meagan – Books
Joe – Stylish
Heather – Out-doorsy
Sara – Passionate
Gaby – Trendy
And we have one word for Erik… AWESOME.
