Local Running Standouts Addi Zerrenner, Curly Guillen Headed to U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon – Noozhawk

A pair of local distance runners will line up for a shot at making it to the  in the marathon at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Saturday in Atlanta.

alumni Addi Zerrenner and Ramiro “Curly” Guillen III will be among the more than 700 runners vying for the six spots (three men, three women) to represent Team USA this summer in Japan.

Zerrenner and Guillen are good friends, sharing an alma mater and coach Terry Howell, who has pictures of his athletes alongside those of his kids.

But the runners’ journeys to Georgia could not be more different.

Zerrenner, 23, went from setting the DP girls 3,200-meter record to placing top 10 overall at the 2018 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships for the . She also ran distance events for the Wildcats on the track.

Last June, she ran her first marathon at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn., and came in at 2 hours, 37 minutes, 51 seconds. The time qualified for the Olympic Trials, well under the 2:45 qualifying standard.

“I didn’t think Terry would let me do the full marathon,” Zerrenner said looking back at Grandma’s, where she initially planned to run the half-marathon.

Guillen and Zerrenner do an early-morning run along the bike path at Palm Park. (Courtesy photo)

The runner and coach met at Starbucks in Montecito, where she explained her plan and her coach replied: “Well, I don’t see why not.”

Zerrenner is a woman on the go. Besides training under Howell, she works as an online running coach for , is a fitness instructor at and conducts order fulfillment for , a Santa Barbara-based running apparel brand and a sponsor for Guillen.

Guillen, 37, is a lifelong resident of Goleta and a marathon veteran. He’s run 12, with a personal best of 2:17:35 in 2017.

Guillen returned to running in 2011 after becoming overweight, working two jobs as a divorced father of two, and continually telling himself and his peers: “I’ll start tomorrow.”

He said his former wife eventually couldn’t take it anymore and “shoved me out the door to run.”

He recalled almost fainting after that first two-mile run. After running a few days later, he decided to make a six-month plan, which included giving his old coach a call.

“My mission was to set a better example for my children and to show people that it is never too late to pursue your dreams,” said Guillen, who is a 16-year TSA agent at the and moonlights as a deejay.

“I would poke him in the stomach and he was like the Pillsbury Dough Boy,” Howell said on seeing Guillen working at the airport after they disconnected. “I would always tell him, ‘If you want to get back into running, give me a call.’”

He did his workouts at 5:30 a.m., when sometimes Howell could see only a headlight floating around the track.

Guillen enters the Olympic Trials in the best shape of his life.

“I’m probably one of the most in-shape TSA agents in the country,” said the “World’s Fastest DJ,” a nickname coined by talk radio. The “Curly” moniker came when he had long curly hair as a 3-year-old.

Guillen is known for his optimistic attitude. He follows the motto of “stay positive, keep moving forward,” which also serves as an inspiration for other local athletes, including Zerrenner, who looked up to Guillen while in high school.

“A couple months after I got back into running, coach and I set the goal to run the ’16 Olympic Trials. I ran the Houston Half-Marathon and came up short (of the qualifying standard). Rather than feeling sorry for myself, the next day I said, let’s shoot for 2020.”

Guillen and Zerrenner are part of coach Terry Howell’s team known as Blue Collar Running. (Courtesy photo)

Zerrenner transformed her racing mindset after experiencing multiple grueling injuries in 2019. She describes the trials as the “least-pressured race she’s ever run,” and her goal is simply to reach the starting line. Finishing would be icing on the cake.

“When I first started working with Terry, everything was super serious. Running was how I defined all my self-worth,” she said. “(Now) I’m less caught up in, ‘If I do this in a race, then people will like me.’ I’m happier and more positive in training and racing environments, which will make me a better person and runner.”

Howell said: “I want her to pretend (the Olympic Trials) is the Rose Parade and she’s in it. Addi wants to do everything, Curly understands that he can’t do everything.”

Guillen and his coach met at 19 years ago, where Howell flipped back and forth from head coach to assistant coach, which he found more hands-on and rewarding. 

“When I coached him at junior college, he was everything a coach could want in an athlete. Curly would sit shotgun on the bus every time we’d go to an away meet, always wanting to know what was taking place,” Howell said.

Howell will have five runners competing in the Trials. He calls his group Blue Collar Running, a name that fits the type of athletes he takes on.

“I will only coach runners who have a life outside running,” he said. “I wouldn’t even know where to start in structuring an entire day around running.”

He said he enjoys his athletes as friends first. “I’m always there for them.”

Guillen and Zerrenner are familiar with their competition, which includes runners who have been role models to them.

One of the favorites in the women’s race is Jordan Hasay of Arroyo Grande, who, like Zerrenner, turned to marathon running after a standout high school and college career on the track.

Saturday’s marathon will be broadcast on NBC at 9 a.m.

To stay up to date, both local runners are active on social media, Guillen is @deejaycurly on Instagram and Twitter, and Zerrenner’s Instagram handle is @azerrenner.