About Me

I love to surf. Growing up in the mountains of Oregon, I spent most of my youth on bikes, skateboards and snowboards. After joining the Marine Corps in the early 90’s, I was blessed to be stationed in Southern California where I “found” surfing. The rest, as they say, is history. In the early 2000’s I was stationed in South Carolina and starved for both waves and surfboards. Surfing Hunting Island was very fickle and required a different board than what I had been surfing in SoCal. This led to me purchasing my first blank in 2002 and beginning the process of teaching myself to shape. Having no instruction, and no one to lean on for knowledge, I made a mess out of several blanks but was able to build, surf and rebuild a board (stripping glass off the first board!).

My family and I moved multiple times and each time I would shape a little more– improving both the boards and my skills each time. After 9/11 occurred- and both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars began much of my attention shifted and I spent most of time away from the water and my family in far off lands. Luckily in 2013 I got stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Okinawa is an amazing little island in the Ryuku chain nestled between  mainland Japan to the north and Taiwan to the south west. Being in a wave rich location and having much greater access to shaping supplies, I was able to really focus on my boards and grow as a shaper. Fast forward to 2020 and I  have finally retired from the Corps in Eastern North Carolina and decided to commit my time and attention to my family, Church, fellow veterans and building surfcraft.

I have a very soft heart for veterans, but more specifically, my wounded and disabled brothers-in-arms and I  am committed to supporting them as best I can. My goal with Runyon Surfboards is to provide you, the customer, with the best quality, handcrafted, fully customized surfcraft you could possibly imagine! As a military veteran and small business owner I believe people, not machines, are what surfing and being in the ocean is all about. Its about relationships, and I want to build a relationship and surfboard with you! Blessings to you and yours