OUR TEAM
Caroline Steer
Co-founder & Inspiration
Caroline Steer. 12 December 1969 – 9 May 2024. Caroline fought and ran through cancer for twelve years. She is the reason outruncancer exists — the conversation that started everything, the person Vanessa runs for and the friend who ran every single night for Vanessa when Vanessa needed it most. She remains the inspiration and beating heart of outruncancer. Her words live on in everything we do: "Keep moving. Movement is medicine. Live in the now. Do what you can — and do it now."
Vanessa Oshima
CoーFounder、Runner
Vanessa Oshima has been running every single day since September 2012 — a promise made to Caroline that has never stopped. A cancer survivor, author, and keynote speaker, Vanessa is the first New Zealand woman to complete the six Abbott World Marathon Majors. She has lived in Japan for over 25 years and writes a monthly column for Runners Magazine Japan. She is the author of The Joy Bucket — an illustrated book about finding joy through the hard times — and the forthcoming Diary of #LifeLearningsFromRunning. Vanessa runs. She writes. She speaks. She keeps going.
CONNOR STEER
Ambassador, Runner
Connor Steer started running every day in June 2015 — inspired by what Vanessa was doing for his mother Caroline. He ran through appendicitis. Post-surgery, in a hospital gown and jandals. He has never stopped. In 2019, Connor ran the Tokyo Marathon with Vanessa as a charity runner — a goal he had spoken about publicly three years earlier. He has since gone on to run many of the world major marathons. Connor is Caroline's son. He carries her legacy forward, one step at a time.
Daphne Mavroudi-Chocholi
Community developer
Daphne brings her knowledge of community based inititiaves from her experience working with charities. She joined outruncancer first as Vanessa’s training supporter. She is building our community with the goal of delivering the promise of compassionate, holistic approach to “movement as medicine” to one of life’s toughest journeys.
Jordan Oshima
Events Coordination
Jordan has been part of outruncancer since the very beginning. He helps to coordinate events and community activations — bringing people together around running, cancer support, and the outruncancer mission. Listen to Jordan talk about having parents with Cancer.