Barbara Robben, 87, has been a path runner, booster, and volunteer for the more than half a century that she’s lived in Berkeley.

Barbara Robben, 87, at her home on El Dorado Avenue.

A resident of El Dorado Avenue — a half-block from Marin Circle — Robben weeded Fountain Walk for 10 years and continues to take care of the 4 large aloe plants that mark the bottom of the path. She tended the area off of Los Angeles Avenue near the new Jacque Ensign Way for many years, as well as the small triangle of grass and trees at the corner of El Dorado and Hopkins Street.

“When I see something on a path that needs doing, I do it,” says Robben, who is a UC Berkeley graduate in geology and soils sciences, mother of 4, and grandmother of 3.

Training on the paths
A lifelong competitive athlete, Robben often ran on the paths.

“I used to train on the paths,” she says. “I would run 30 to 40 paths in a 3-to-4-hour training run.”

Robben keeps a stack of maps inside her front door to hand out to passersby.

Robben has competed in more than 3,000 running races, open water swims, and triathlons, including 44 foot races on the famed Dipsea Trail — she has completed the race more times than any other woman — and she has won several swimming world championships in her age group. She was one of the first women to swim across the Golden Gate and completed a storied swim around Alcatraz when there were still prisoners on the island.

Paths booster
She’s a big fan of spontaneous yard decorations; if you wander by her house on El Dorado, look for her lawn burro, fairy houses, and frog playground.

Ever the paths booster, she keeps a stack of Berkeley Path Wanderers Association maps by her front door to hand out to passersby who stop to chat.

“There’s a lot of interesting things to see in Berkeley, and the paths will take you there,” Robben says.

Robben’s frog garden and fairy houses on El Dorado Avenue.