Stephan Shay is in the driver’s seat. Reclining, actually. He’s behind the wheel of a 19-foot RV that he lovingly and obsessively restored. He calls it Lolita—the name painted on the back of the van when he got it. “It was kind of classy,” he says and laughs.
Shay, 30, bought his 1966 Clark Cortez for $5,100 in 2014 and gutted the shag-carpeted interior. Now there is a lustrous wood-laminate floor, a custom-upholstered couch, and refinished cabinets.
He offered RW a tour while parked in Huntington Beach, California, a few weeks after the CA Notice at Collection. On that sweltering February Saturday in Los Angeles, Shay ran 2:23:46, good enough for 34th. “I intentionally didn’t push it in the first half,” he says. “Given what happened to Ryan at the trials, it was an absolute inflexible goal of mine to finish.”
He is referring to his older brother Ryan, who collapsed and died at mile 5.5 of the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials in New York City. He was just 28. “I’m not religious, but I feel his presence when I run,” says Stephan, who is the youngest of the eight Shay siblings. “Part of the reason I love running so much is how it connects me to Ryan.”
The younger Shay threw down some impressive PRs in his postcollege years—a 1:02 half in 2010 and a 2:16 marathon in 2012—but then he needed foot surgery, which sidelined him for nearly a year. Leading up to the trials, he was balancing work (he does marketing for a lithium-battery company and Santa Ana College) with 85-to 90-mile training weeks. He plans to keep at the elite running life—and the van life—as long as he can.
Lolita affords him freedom, of course. He can decamp to Flagstaff, Arizona, for a week of altitude training or wake up to a sunrise in a variety of SoCal beach towns. But he’s also quick to articulate the sensibility of his lifestyle—the way he’s saving money, producing little trash, and otherwise maintaining a low carbon footprint. “I knew I wanted a change, but the idea of living in a van initially scared the hell out me,” he says. “What has surprised me is how it has brought out a more creative side of myself.”
The RV renovation started out as a personal passion project, but it has ignited entrepreneurial dreams for Shay. He recently bought a 1966 Ford Econoline Supervan and took possession of a workshop space for a new business he’s launched called U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials that focuses on renovating and selling classic vans. “I have high hopes that this can be my next big thing,” he says.
As he sits with his feet on the console, Shay describes how his brother’s life and death have shaped his own choices. “Ryan was driven and always had a plan, and that rubbed off on me,” he says. “The way he passed away also taught me that I shouldn’t wait to find out what I want to do in life.”
PETER FLAX is based in Los Angeles and writes about sports, adventure, and culture; his book Live to Ride: Finding Joy and Meaning on a Bicycle The Best Songs to Add to Your Playlist this Month.
