Ian Golden
Ian's life commitment to running was solidified at an early age when he repeatedly got benched for running next to the pool during his youth as a competitive swimmer. After two High School Cross Country Team Championships while growing up in Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, he continued the running path with Cross Country and Track and Field at Ithaca College. While at Ithaca he earned multiple national qualifiers in Cross Country and in the Steeplechase in Track, and finished with two NCAA All-American honors, later being inducted into the Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame.
During his graduate work, he began traveling, spending time living in New Mexico, California, and Scotland. After College he started into a career working as an Occupational Therapist, living in Washington, Hawaii, and Oregon. In 2005, while hiking a backcountry circuit in the Canadian Rockies with his college teammate and wife-to-be, he decided to shift gears in both career and location, doubling down on a life of community and running.
Inspired by the topography and sense of community Ian returned to Ithaca to found the Finger Lakes Running Company in 2006. In 2008 he began creating and directing events, with an affinity for difficult races in inspirational places. This passion would be formalized years and events later under the banner of Red Newt Racing which continues to produce some of the toughest and most scenic (predominantly mountain trail) races in the country and which have included National Championships. In 2013 he founded Confluence Running in Binghamton (later sold to his manager), and in 2014, co-founded Run On Hudson Valley in Croton-On-Hudson, NY (closed up shop in 2019). In 2019 he founded the Trails Collective, providing weekly Rundowns of the Northeast Trail Running community, feature articles, gear reviews, and the eCommerce home for the Finger Lakes Running Company.
He still enjoys melding a trained base in Anatomy & Physiology and Human Development with over 30 years as a competitive runner in the context of gear fitting and specialty run sales. Although feeling a bit more beat up with each decade, he's still eventing, focused on trail and ultra events up to 100 miles. He enjoys time with his wife of 15 years and their three young daughters, and a couple of dogs living in Ithaca.
Meet the Team
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Xander Dawson
Alexander (Xander) has been an employee at the Finger Lakes Running Company since 2019. He is an avid runner and loves running anything from roads to trails. His favorite distance is the half marathon, but he has raced multiple distances from sprints to marathons. He enjoys helping people find the shoes and gear that will work the best for them. He also enjoys connecting with runners from all over the region and lending advice and encouragement. When he isn’t working, Xander enjoys playing music: he plays the saxophone, clarinet, flute, piano, and is a vocalist. He enjoys spending time with his family and exploring new running routes in the area. Xander is a college student at Boston Conservatory at Berklee where he studies musical performance. Visit xkdawson.com to learn more.
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Amelia Kaufman
The Finger Lakes Running Company has been a special place for Amelia. She started working there in 2016 after graduating college, and have met some of her best friends and mentors through this local running community. Plus with all its trails and recreation paths, Ithaca is a pretty great place to be a runner. She enjoys all distances and surfaces, but have fallen into the trail ultra scene and can't seem to stop! When Amelia is not at the shop or out running, she also rollerblades, bikes, and works as a graphic designer.
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Elizabeth Dawson
Elizabeth has been an employee at the Finger Lakes Running Company since 2020. She loves to be active, and when she isn’t working (or at school), she can be found at the gym or outside running or hiking. She likes to connect with everyone who walks in the door at FLRC. She loves that she gets to help some people find their first pair of shoes, and help others find their 101st pair of shoes. It reminds her that there is not just “one way” to be active, and that is inspiring. When Elizabeth isn’t working, she is a full-time student at Ithaca College studying music education. She also enjoys spending time with her family, attending (and teaching) group fitness classes at FLX Fitclub, and working in her pottery studio.
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Josh Nogaret
Josh started working at the Finger Lakes Running Company in the Fall of 2022. He grew up in Central New York and has been running since his sophomore year of high school. He has a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from SUNY Cortland. In his free time, Josh enjoys running and the great outdoors. When he isn’t working or running, Josh plays guitar, solves Rubik’s cubes (his record is 4 minutes), and aspires to be a cross-country skier.