Episodes

Episode 46 was a deep dive into road running with Melissa Penwell. She has a drive for success that is almost tangible throughout the interview. She gave us a glimpse into how she qualified for the Olympic Trials in 2019 & training/racing that lead up to that. Once again we discussed community and how uplifting runners are. We had a great time. Download today! But wait, don't forget to rate & review our podcast! Let's get this trending. See ya on the trails! Melissa Penwell - U.S. Olympic Team ...

Bear 100 Mile Endurance Run runners download this episode today! Reggie White and Robert Myers walked us through their training leading up to the Bear 100 Mile Endurance Run, gear picks and some important discussions about hash browns. Don’t forget to review our show so we can get this thing trending! See ya on the trails. Reggie USU: Reginald White's Results (ultrasignup.com) Reggie FB: (2) Reggie White | Facebook Reggie IG: Reggie White (@19regional81) • Instagram photos and videos Rob USU:ht...

This episode was all about a patient & grateful runner lining up to the 2021 Western States Endurance Run 100. Christine Vincent fought cutoffs, blisters and unusual heat to finally get to cross the finish line in 29 hours and 44 minutes during the Golden Hour. Download to hear her story about how she manages personal anxiety & depression, raising two daughters, training through a pandemic and the community and support systems she has built around herself! Christine's results Anxiety and Depre...

Episode 43 with EJ Maldonado is not one to miss. EJ gives us so many reasons why the trail community is one of the most supportive and kind communities to be a part of. We discussed huge life changes, transgender athletes, gender equality, alcohol abuse disorder, mental health, and, of course, some awesome races. Download for a feel-good episode with a progressive and kind human, EJ. Ej Maldonado's Results (ultrasignup.com) the streeeker v.2 (@ejmaldonado74) • Instagram photos and videos www.tr...

For this episode we sit down with the guy behind many of our favorite local and Bay Area trail races like the Woodside Ramble, Knickerbocker Canyon, Marin Ultra Challenge, and the Ordnance 100K, Inside Trail Racing’s very own Tim Stahler. Join us to hear all about what's on the 2021 race schedule and be ready for a FULL 2022 calendar. Inside Trail Racing | Ultramarathon, Half Marathon & 10K Trail Runs Throughout the SF Bay Area Volunteer | Inside Trail Racing | Ultramarathon, Half Marathon & 10...

We are super excited to talk to the guy behind the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs. He is not only a well-loved and happy-go-lucky race director, but he is also a well-accomplished endurance athlete in both road and trail racing with 19 hundos under his belt and endless amazing races of all distances, from the mountains to the streets. Tune in to get the origins of both George and the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs... AND NEW COURSE CHANGES for 2021!!!!! 20K feet vert for the Hundo!!! Tahoe Rim ...

We are super excited to talk to the woman who has brought us Way too Cool 50K, American River 50, Rio Del Lago 100 Mile Endurance Race, She Rocks the Trails, and numerous other amazing races. Julie Fingar is not only a loved and admired race director, she is a well-accomplished athlete in both road and trail racing with 150+ marathons and ultra-marathons under her belt including eight 100-mile wins. She is a successful business owner and has given endlessly back to our community. Take a listen a...

The town of Auburn is vibrating with excitement! The 2021 Western States Endurance Run is in the final countdown for race day. The Mile 99 Crew sits down at the Auburn Aid Station to celebrate LIVE IN PERSON for WSER100 storytelling. Take a listen and see you on the Western States Trail. --- Your hosts: Jessica Harris / Greg Larkin / Mike Turner Artwork/logo by Krista Cavender: https://www.kcavenderdesign.com/ | IG: https://www.instagram.com/kristacavender/ Intro/outro music: Joseph McDade - ...

This episode is packed with epic adventures and race details for some of our Bucket List races. Ben R.E. Mitchell has created and set FKTs, traveled far and raced long. Tune in to hear about his adventures. Subscribe to our Patreon for a shout-out on the live! Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/themile99interview)

The Western States 100 Endurance Run crew joined us again for the latest updates, talked us through new policies and what this 2021 race year will look like. Download this episode with RD Craig Thornley, board president Diana Fitzpatrick and medical director Dr. Andy Pasternak today! See ya on the trails. #SeeYaAtStates Medical volunteers needed: Medical – Western States Endurance Run (wser.org) All other volunteers: I Want To Volunteer – Western States Endurance Run (wser.org) Western States ...

Paulo Medina is a race director for SingleTrack Running and owner of The Aid Station in Auburn, CA. We spent the episode learning how he became a runner, business owner, and a pillar to our local Auburn, CA running community. Join us for a feel-good hour of community and some exciting news about Paulo! Our Patreon is up! Support us for $1! SingleTrack Running – No benches, no half-time, no time-outs…Welcome to my world. 100 miles to Auburn SingleTrack Running Shop online: www.auburnaidstation.co...

Hot off an 8 hour finish at the American River 50 race, Danny Murphy, the creator of UltraPacer, sat down with us to walk us through his ultrarunning career. As a dad to two young children, a husband and a busy civil engineer, Danny had to find a way to maximize his training. He has done so with a variety of techniques including his own software project and lots of early morning runs! Download his episode to hear how you can use UltraPacer today and get those same benefits! Instagram: https://...

Grand theft auto? Podium finishes? Master’s degree? Episode 34 featured Maria Steinhauser and her journey through single parenting, grad school, full-time teaching, and podium finishes. We shared an hour laughing and reliving some of her adventures. Maria is a driven, successful, compassionate, and hard-working human. Her pacers might have accidentally stolen a car while she was running as well! Tune in to hear how it all played out. Don’t forget to rate and review. Subscribe to our Patreon for ...

Jamil Coury joined us for Episode 33. We dove right in and discussed the good, bad and ugly that came from a year of pandemic race directing. We touched on the 2021 Barkley marathons and how Jamil’s day(s) unfolded. Mike is running Cocodona 250 while Jess and Greg are crewing him. We were itching to get all the extra details for this race. It is going to be a great week built on years and years of planning. Download to hear the full conversation. Rate and review! COCODONA 250 runners: Don’t for...

For our 32nd episode, we sat down with the E3 Epic Endurance Events crew Chaz Sheya , Abbey Drake, and Sean Flannagan to get the inside scoop on the 2021 CANYONS ENDURANCE RUNS. The race is on but in a whole new way. Take a listen to this episode to get all the details. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/themile99interview)

For our 31st episode, we sat down with Bay Area Ultrarunner, Race Director, Running Coach, and now JamOnTam200 FKT holder, Michael Li. Michael just completed a record-setting 21 ascents up Mt. Tam, covering 200 miles, 57,162 feet of vert in 108 hours, 24 minutes, and 20 seconds. But Michael has not always been the lean, mean, climbing machine we all know and love. Leading up to 2008 he had built a successful IT consulting and training company, speaking at conferences worldwide. But his busy and ...

During 2020, we saw the rise of FKT attempts while so many races had been cancelled and postponed due to the pandemic. The 2021 FKT season is off to a blistering start with the Death Valley N-S standard route crossing (off-trail) FKT being taken by Sarah Estrella, a local runner from Davis. Sarah joined us for episode 30 to talk about this this multi-day challenge in the famed Death Valley and what it took to take it on and get it done. Along the way, we also learned about her mental and physi...

In this episode, we sit down again with Bruce Nguyen. We spoke to Bruce last November in episode 18 after his amazing Moab 240 finish. We asked him to come back to discuss his gear. Specifically, all the gear it takes to run and crew a successful 200+ mile multiday race. Bruce just returned from crewing his buddy Michael Li on his amazing JamOnTam200 Fatass, where Michael completed a record 21 repeats with over 56K feet of vert from the historic 1929 Lytton Square Clock in Mill Valley, CA to th...

For our 29th episode, we sat down with two fixtures of our trail running community, Karen and Kjell Framnes! You can count on seeing Karen, Kjell and their daughter Olivia at pretty much any trail race in Northern California from 50k up to 200 miles in length, both racing and volunteering. They are true ambassadors of the sport, and we talked to them to find out all about how they got their starts, how they met and fell in love, what they've been up to the past few years and what big plans are...

On the First 99 Gear Review we usually talk about gear attached to your body; shoes, clothing, watches, stuff like that. But today, we are sitting down with Auburn’s very own Doug White to talk about the gear, time, and volunteers it takes to pull off the successful Dusty Corners Western States Endurance Race Aid Station. Mile 38 of the WSER is no joke. Dusty Corners is a hot, dry, and dusty place (except for the year of snow and hypothermia). When you finally make it through the high-country s...

In this episode, Jenny Maier joined us to talk about her unique approach to combining personal training, strength and mobility work and yoga to help build balanced runners with longevity in the sport. We got some great insights into her approach for helping runners achieve their goals and also how she made a big career change in her life from fast-paced attorney in the Bay Area to personal trainer and yoga teacher. On top of that, Jenny also led us through a short sequence of hip-opening yoga p...

Mike kicked off our Mile 99 crew favorite gear review. We peeked into a lesson from Turner’s Theory of Net Energy Balance. It led him to favoring a Gore brand windstopper vest. It has a low back and pockets originally used for cyclists. He mentioned his glasses hook up from Cody Johnson in Salt Lake City who fit prescription lenses in racing glasses. They auto-tint and he wore them for 34 hours at a race. Dakine 8L waistpack is a recent purchase that Mike wants to use for snacks so it is likely ...

In this episode, we were joined by Western States Endurance Run race director Craig Thornley, race medical director Dr. Andy Pasternak, president of the board of directors Diana Fitzpatrick, and vice president of the board Tim Twietmeyer. We were glad to welcome them back after first talking in early December to find out more about plans for the 2021 Western States race. Back in December, there was a great deal of uncertainty that made it difficult to decide how to plan for 2021. In this episod...

In this episode of the First 99 Gear Review, I sit down again with our very own Greg Larkin for Part 2 of his Winter Off-Season Cross Training Plan. During Part 1 we dug into Greg’s indoor workouts including rowing on the Concept2 and Zwift virtual bike racing on his smart trainer. In Part 2 we head to the White Wonderland for some full body winter cross training activities. As mentioned in the last episode Greg was born in Upstate NY and moved to New Hampshire as a kid. Snow sports go back man...