In July of 2023, Rich Tran started running.
At first, it was tough. He could barely jog half a mile.
But he kept running.
Now, almost nine months later, the former three-time Milpitas Mayor is able to run 10 miles at a time and has completed multiple races, including half-marathons and 10Ks.
Looking at the app on his phone, he calculates he has run over 400 miles since he started last summer.
“I started running because my health was at rock bottom. Not just physically but I think mentally and spiritually,” Tran told The Beat in an interview. “I’ve lost a lot of people I’ve cared about. That’s another reason I started to run – to deal with my grief.”
Last March, Tran’s grandmother passed away. Soon after her passing, he also lost his longtime best friend, whom he had known since his days in Milpitas High School. A few other residents in Milpitas whom he had known also passed.
“I had gained weight and was going through grief. That’s why I started running. Also, I had left City Hall,” Tran told The Beat. “I had a lot of time and wasn’t as active going around Milpitas…”
Since running, Tran has lost 20 pounds. He also feels that his mind is stronger and he has better focus. His diet and lifestyle have also gotten a lot healthier.
In the past 9 months, Tran has collected 10 medals from the various races he has taken part in.
During the week, Tran devotes time to running around Milpitas. For a short run, he runs several miles along Main Street. When he’s going for a medium run, he goes 9 miles, along a big perimeter of Milpitas, going from Main Street to Landess to Piedmont, then over to Jacklin and back to Main Street.
“My long run is from Main Street to Berryessa of San Jose, up to Piedmont, then all the way to Fremont, to Scotts Creek back to Main Street,” said Tran. “That’s about over 15 miles. It takes under 3 hours.”
At present, he runs three times a week, for a total of 15 miles.
His goal is to keep running until August. In August, he’ll stop physically running and instead focus on running his Mayoral campaign, leading up to the November 2024 election.
“I’ll be in shape to knock on every door,” said Tran.
If Tran wins, he will serve his fourth term as Mayor. So far, Councilmember Hon Lien has also stated that she will be running for Mayor, and current Mayor Carmen Montano has said she will be seeking the role again, too.
Along with running, Tran also started going to church. He got baptized last September and has been praying every day, which has also helped him to deal with his grief.
During Tran’s mayoral campaign, his theme is centered on health and wellness.
“I want to use my leadership differently now and lead people to better health. I feel like I’m wasting my leadership sometimes and not using it to the fullest extent,” Tran shared. “I want to inspire and influence other people to be healthy. To get out, to walk, jog, move, and get cardio. Our time on Earth is limited. If there’s anything I can do to extend someone’s time on Earth and enjoy life, that’s something I want to do.”
I applaud Mr. Tran’s recovery from “health [that] was at rock bottom”. I expect others will be inspired by his efforts and results. The slimmed-down version of one of my political heroes inspired me to shed 15 lbs.
I am far less enthusiastic about Tran’s run for Mayor of Milpitas since there is strong evidence that he bribed Mayor Camen Montano and Councilmember Barbadillo. We’ve known about the bribery charge since May ’23 when City Manager Steve McHarris filed a claim against the city. In December 2023, McHarris went further by filing a lawsuit (http://bit.ly/3UjCwZG) claiming that former-Mayor Tran had offered a bribe to candidates running for Council including Carmen Montano and Gary Barbadillo. Tran offered his active campaign endorsement in exchange for the candidate’s commitment, if elected, to remove McHarris as their first order of business. Shortly after taking office, Montano and Barbadillo were joined by Chua in firing McHarris who was well-regarded by people working with him. None of the 3 provided any explanation for their action which violated the City’s contract with McHarris.
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Candidates for Mayor this year are the honorable Hon Lien (who turned down the bribe), an apparent briber (Tran), and apparent bribee (Montano). We the People replaced a corrupt loser in 2020 with Joe Biden; let’s flex our democratic muscle again by replacing Montano with Hon Lien.