Meet The Trainers

Christina Fu has been attending YNEM since 2003. She has been involved in Love Ministry, Life Group, @Touch, and various other ministries. Christina currently works as an architectural and interior designer, is 28 years old, and resides in Alhambra.

Christina has always enjoyed the out doors, but did not start taking exercising seriously until she started running regularly in college. She would occasionally bike, swim and indoor rock climb, although she never had formal training in any of these areas. She is passionate about learning and seeking improvement in areas of physical health and activity. Christina has run in a few 5Ks and 10Ks events in Los Angeles and in the Bay Area, and is looking forward to setting a mile-stone in her life by running the Long Beach Half-Marathon. She recently placed 3rd in her age group in the Fiesta Days 10k run race.

Christina is a 2^nd degree black in Taekwondo and has competed and refereed for several competitions. She is also an instructor at a studio in Temple City.

Joel Kim, Training Director, has been a member of the Young Nak Presbyterian Church since 1990. He is actively involved in the community with LifeGroup, Health Professionals Ministry, and Alpha Skid Row, just to name a few. He is currently a captain in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, and is seeking civilian employment. He hopes to one day align his professional experience and his passion for athletes in order to accomplish a successful career transition into healthcare, perhaps even going into sports medicine with a rehabilitation center or the VA Hospital. He is 30 years old and currently resides in La Crescenta.

Although he enjoys running, he actually considers himself a triathlete, and has since competed in numerous triathlon races, going on his 2 years and 8 month period. Some of his triathlon races include the L.A. Triathlon, the Accenture’s Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco, and the Big Kahuna Half Ironman in Santa Cruz just to name a few. He’s also raced in numerous 5k & 10k races as well as the annual L.A. Bike Tour. In fact, he recently completed the World Famous Camp Pendleton Mud Run with Darren Wong and placed third in his race class. He has also dedicated his time and effort in fundraising $3,500 for cancer as a triathlete for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Team in Training. He is currently a member of the Young Nak Bike Club and is a member of USA Triathlon.

Joel believes that racing not only promotes physical wellness but also mental and spiritual well-being. Joel hopes to help YNEM members who are of different fitness levels, body types, and gender achieve their goals, whether it is training for the 5K Run/Walk, Bike Tour, Half Marathon or Full Marathon. For those first timers, he hopes to abate your fears and to build camaraderie in training for this event. And for those veterans, he hopes to not disappoint your expectations and to not inhibit the growth of your personal aspirations.

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Darren Wong, has been a member of YNEM for the past 4 years. He currently serves as director of YNEM's Alpha course and is also part of the host team. Darren works as an assistant trader / content editor for The Connors Group. He is 28 years old and currently lives in Hollywood.

Darren's passion for sports started with swimming at an early age. He later moved on to water polo in high school where he helped his team win a CIF championship. In college, he was heavily into weight lifting and began training for a marathon. In 2004, Darren completed the LA marathon (along with his fiancé to whom he proposed to during the race) and in 2006 he finished the LA Triathlon in the top quarter out of 1400 participants.

Darren has also run in various 5k and 10k races, with his favorite being the annual Camp Pendleton Mud Run. He looks forward to meeting all of you and helping to build a community of running enthusiasts.