Paddy O’Leary

Trail Runner

Paddy O’Leary is an Irishman, a cancer biology PhD, professional trail runner, mountain adventurer, and community organizer who devotes himself to strengthening community, exploring the outdoors, and supporting scientists who want to improve the health of our people and our planet.

Paddy grew up on a dairy farm in south-east Ireland and spent his childhood and college years playing team sports, including hurling, Gaelic football, and lacrosse. Moving to San Francisco for a postdoctoral position in cancer biology at UCSF, he discovered the world of trail running and its vibrant community. Over the past ten years, he has competed in elite trail races and ultramarathons all across the world with both the Ireland national team and The North Face’s Athlete team. He has spent his time leading local running communities such as the November Project and San Francisco Running Company, encouraging people to get out and explore the public spaces across Northern California and beyond.

Storytelling is a skill that Paddy has been focusing on lately. Working with the filmmakers, Dooster Film, they have made multiple award-winning trail running short films – “Coming Home – Ag Teacht Abhaile” about the Irish mountain running community, “Urban Oasis” about the urban trails of San Francisco, and “Dipsea Generations” about increasing access to trail running for Bay Area youth of many different backgrounds. Expanding on his passion for science education and outreach, he has hosted events and moderated panels and speaker series across a wide variety of subjects – covering everything from cancer and systems biology when he worked at UCSF, to Climate and AgTech pitch events at his current role with MBC BioLabs, to subjects all across the outdoor adventure space.