Pleasanton Locals Drive Search For Missing Runner Philip Kreycik

PLEASANTON, CA — The weeklong search to find missing runner Philip Kreycik has drawn hundreds of volunteers from every corner of Pleasanton, with restaurants stepping up to feed searchers and one local even flying his Cessna over the route.

On Saturday, more than 77 volunteers were back at it, combing miles of the area in and around Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, where Kreysik, a 37-year-old Berkeley ultramarathon runner and father of two, was reported missing on July 10 after he failed to return from an hourlong run on the trail loop.

And while law enforcement officials on Thursday afternoon said they would scale back the hunt for Kreycik, emergency personnel resumed the search this weekend, a dispatcher with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office told Patch on Saturday.

Searchers for eight days have endured the threat of mountain lions and rattlesnakes, blazing heat and rough terrain by foot, horse, plane, e-bike and off-road vehicles, using search dogs, drones and heat-detecting technology to look for signs of him.

"He's very strong," Sandy Schneider, who has helped coordinate the community-led search, told Patch. "And he's got a very strong reason to come home for his kids. We know he's fighting for whichever way he can to get home."

On Sunday, for the first time in days, organizers of the search party did not call for hundreds of volunteers but Schneider said volunteers were still called out to man trailheads and help rescue officials in their continued search.

Schneider — like dozens of other Bay Area residents donating their days to scour the region — has never met Kreycik. She's lived in Pleasanton for 18 years and for four years she's been running a 6,300-member Pleasanton Community Facebook page to assemble locals for causes like these.

"He has a huge network of Harvard friends and co-graduates across the country that have been flying in from all over the place, "she said.

The Pleasanton resident said she's gotten to know Kreycik through his family, with who she's grown closer as she's worked to organize the search party.

READ MORE: Missing Hiker: Officials Scale Back Search As It Enters Day 6

"He's just a very kind, caring, loving, gentle soul," she said. "We still have hope. His wife and I, and his father, we still have hope that he's there."

"We just can't understand how we have not found him yet," Schneider said. "But you know, he runs very fast, he could have very easily tripped or slid. We're just waiting for news at this point."

Schneider has reached out to scores of local grocery stores and restaurants this week to provide water, snacks and full meals for volunteers.

Inklings Cafe, Costco, Mr. Pickles, Porky's Pizza, Pizza Bello, Safeway, Lucky's, Gene's Fine Foods, Raley's and Grocery Outlet were among the local stores and eateries that stepped up to feed hundreds of searchers last week.

"Every single grocery store in Pleasanton...and every single place I called out to said "yes," whatever we needed," she said. "I'm really proud of my community. I think we've done everything we possibly can do. The family is extremely grateful."

The Hyatt House and the Hilton Doubletree also donated rooms for Kreycik's family during the search last week, Schneider said.

Anyone who wants to volunteer can check the Find Philip Kreycik Facebook page for updates and get in touch with organizers. Kreycik is described as white with a thin build and brown hair and eyes. Anyone who may have information can contact Pleasanton police at 925-931-5100.

The search has been difficult and unprecedented in Alameda County, where missing people are generally found within a day, said Ron Seitz, volunteer chief of Alameda County Search and Rescue. It's especially unusual since Pleasanton Ridge is such a popular park, and it's likely that a passerby could have offered help.

Kreycik is a fit and friendly hiker and runner, a legendary outdoorsman who's well-known in the Bay Area and Harvard University community for his "huge, jaw-dropping adventures," said Tom Wooten, an organizer of the volunteer search and Kreycik's former college classmate.

Kreycik works as a strategic analyst of clean energy transportation at Pacific Gas & Electric Co., according to his LinkedIn profile.

Patch editor Courtney Teague contributed to this report.