Sassquad Trail Runners

This is the recording from our FB Live Interview on Wednesday September 28, 2022 with Lee Connor and Karmell Ohlrogge!  Lee and Karmell are seasoned ultra runners who are making an incredible impact on our sport! It'll take you a while to scroll through each of their UltraSignUp results as both Lee and Karmell have completed over 100 events combined (and that's just UltraSignUp!). After we got the backstory on each of their running journeys, we spent the rest of the interview chatting about The Women's 100 Miler Project that Lee and Karmell created. The Facebook Group has over 600 women! Read on to learn more about this incredible group: "EMPOWERING WOMEN IN ULTRARUNNING! The Women’s 100 Miler Project Started as a low budget grassroots video project where we follow five women on their journey to their first 100 miler over the course of a year, under the training and guidance of established ultrarunner Lee Conner, in an effort to get more women interested in running 100s. In launching this project it became abundantly clear, however, that there’s no shortage of women WANTING to run 100s, there’s a shortage of women with the confidence to commit to or begin training. One of the biggest things holding them back was being overwhelmed with the conflicting information out there, and not knowing where to start. We decided to open up the training to all women, not just those in our video project. Our mission is to streamline and simplify information and training, in a supportive and encouraging environment, in order to facilitate making a 100 miler an achievable goal for as many women as possible." https://thewomens100milerproject.com/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/268691585272178

This is the recording from our Facebook Live interview on  August 21, 2022. Renee is a Sassquad OG! She is at the starting line of just about every Sassquad Trail Party and consistently places in the top 5 (often overall!). Renee recently celebrated 13 years of Recovery and we were honored that her celebration was the same weekend of our most recent Trail Party, the Thunder Chicken Squatch. We'll chat about trail running and Recovery during this interview - you don't want to miss it!

We chat all things trail and ultra with Helgi and learn about his inspiring life story as an ultra runner and professional yacht chef. At the age of 19, Helgi was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), a form of degenerative arthritis affecting the spine and other joints. Since then, he has inspired, advocated, and raise money for others with AS through ultrarunning. Most recently, Helgi completed 2900 miles in 60 days, including three 200+ mile races. Helgi is one of the masterminds behind the Mighty Gallatin 350 mile endurance run in Montana from September 5-11, 2022. Sassquad Race Director Kim Levinsky and Sassquaders Matt Klein and Doug Wilson will be joining Helgi in Montana for the Mighty Gallatin! You can learn more about the Mighty Gallatin 350 here: https://www.mightygallatin.com/

This is the recording of our Facebook Live interivew on Thursday July 7, 2022 with Lynn Maki who recently completed the New Jersey section of the Appalachian Trail! Lynn is a long-time Sassquader who can been found at our trail parties as a runner or volunteer (and sometimes both!). You can read Lynn's recap of her runventure here.

This is the recording from our Tuesday June 28th interview with Sassquad Race Director Kim Levinsky! Kim was in the hot seat and shared about her experience at the Tahoe 200 mile race. After training for more than 640 days, Kim completed Tahoe with the help of her Crew and the support of her Community. 204+ miles in 96 hours, 5 minutes and 45 seconds. Sassquader and 2021 Triple Crown Finisher (Tahoe 200, Bigfoot 200, Moab 240) Matt Klein led the interview with guest appearances from some of Kim’s Crew Members, Grace DiPaolo and Robin Chase.  You can check out Kim's Tahoe 200 Vlog that she's been updating since April of 2021 here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_c5oG3sQ7vH_GL0t54ajSQ

Steve recently established the Fastest Known Time (FKT) for the gnarly Devils Path in the Catskills! The time has now been lowered to a blistering 4 hours, 34 minutes and 54 seconds. This 24.2 miles long trail boasts 8,000+ vertical feet of climbing, and is considered by many to be the toughest hiking trail in the Eastern US.

Scott won the inaugural Backyard Squatch in August of 2021 and earned a ticket to the Capital Backyard Ultra in Virginia. Scott just won Capital in May of 2022 by completing 254.16 miles! With the win, Scott has earned a spot on Team USA for the fall of 2022. Along with his Backyard accolades, Scott has some other very impressive running feats under his belt, including multiple finishes of the Egg Nog Slog All Star Classic and the Hot Dog Run. Oh, and also outright wins at Keystone Backyard Ultra, Run Ragged Last Person Standing, 24 Hour Adventure Trail and the Squatchung Surprise! Check out Scott's blog here: https://www.beastcoasttrailrunning.com/

This is the recording from our Facebook Live Interview on June 1, 2022... · As a Sports Dietitian, Dina works with athletes one-on-one (including Sassquad RD Kim Levinsky!) to fine-tune their daily nutrition framework and optimize their sports nutrition and hydration strategies. She specializes in working with female endurance athletes. · Dina’s company The Nutrition Mechanic provides nutrition and hydration coaching for all peoples of all ages and all genders. · Dina is an accomplished ultrarunner, triathlete and marathoner with finishes including the Leadville 100, the Boston Marathon and NYC Marathon. · As well as an impressive crewing/pacing resume including Badwater, UTMB and soon to be Tahoe 200! · Dina is the co-host of the podcast "Inside Sports Nutrition" with Bob Seebohar

This is the recording from our Facebook Live Interview on February 2, 2022. We chat all things trail and ultra running and hear all about Annie's adventures on the trail, which include her recent big wins at Leadville 100 and Moab 240. Annie is sponsored by Hoka One One. You can follow Annie on Instagram: @outdoorableannie

Sarah KOOLADE earned her "trail name" by her inspiring journey over the last year. Tune-in to hear all about how and why she dove into the squatchtastic world of trail and ultra running!

Art Byram is the host of the weekly podcast, CULTRA. CULTRA is a "weekly podcast that shares the unique perspective of the North East, Beast Coast Ultra running scene: raw, impulsive, and irreverent. The Cultra Trail Running Podcast is a place where we can get together and discuss all the fun stuff that happens on the trails that most normal people don't care about. Join the Cult! or maybe you already have without realizing it... resistance is futile." Art is also the mastermind behind the annual CUT 112 fat ass event. 

Sonia Szczesna is a New Jersey-based producer, photographer, and environmental advocate. Sonia brings her experience as a community organizer and activist into her work in film and photography at Sourland Studios. Her most recent project, Godspeed, Los Polacos!, is currently in festivals. To learn more about Sonia, visit https://www.soniasz.com/ 

Michael Gagliardi, aka Gagz, is an ultrarunner, a story teller, and a proud Philadelphian. Gagz has become a nationally recognized and accomplished Ultrarunner, with 13 finishes of 100 miles or greater, including the famous Tahoe 200 and the fabled Leadville 100, plus many victories, course records, and podium finishes. He was awarded 2020 Best of Philly for his philly4corners run, a 76 mile walk/bike/run friendly route he created that traces the perimeter of Philadelphia. His podcast, "Running Times" centers around the growing Ultrarunning community by featuring a colorful cast of athletes who are pushing the sport's bounds.

Matt Klein just completed the Triple Crown of 200's: Bigfoot 200 (WA) in August, Tahoe 200 (canceled, so Matt and his crew completed this on their own in Colorado) in September and the Moab 240 (UT) in October. That's 640+ miles in less than three months!

Trisha recently earned the FKT (Fastest Known Time) for the 360 mi long Erie Canalway Trail!! We heard all about the highs and lows, and of course, about ICE CREAM! Check out Trisha's FKT here: https://fastestknowntime.com/fkt/trisha-ignatowski-erie-canalway-trail-ny-2021-09-25

This is our interview from Sunday October 10th with Sassquad's Race Director, Kim Levinsky. The tables were turned as Sassquader Keilynn Hopkins dished out the questions to Kim! Kim shared all about her runventure hundo in the Hudson Highlands. She covered 96 miles and 22,000 ft of climbing in a little over 40 hours.

This is our interview from Wednesday September 29th with PA Ultrarunner Grayce Langheine, AKA HOT PANTS! We chat all things trail and ultra AND hear about how Grayce is empowering other women to hit the trails!

This is our interview with Nick Thompson on Wednesday September 1, 2021! Thompson has long been a competitive runner; in 2019, he was ranked as one of the top 20 masters marathoners in the world, and in 2021, he set the American record for men 45+ in the 50K race. Nicholas Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic and the former editor-in-chief of WIRED. Under his leadership, WIRED won numerous awards for design and reporting and launched a highly successful paywall. Thompson also wrote many features for the publication, including two cover stories on Facebook that have been cited multiple times in Congress. Thompson is a former contributor to CBS News, where he regularly appeared on CBS This Morning and CBS Sunday Morning. He is a cofounder of The Atavist, a National Magazine Award–winning digital publication and multimedia content management system that was sold to WordPress in 2018. Thompson previously served as editor of NewYorker.com. Before The New Yorker, Thompson was a senior editor at WIRED, where he assigned and edited the story that was the basis for the Oscar-winning film Argo. In 2009, his book “The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War” was published to critical acclaim.

This is our interview from July 28, 2021 with Don Weise! Don is the Director of Donor Advising for the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. Don is an author, hike leader, environmental advocate, and Trail Conference Life Member; he joined the NYNJTC staff in 2011. Don is the leader of the monthly NYNJTC group runs which welcomes runners of all paces to explore beautiful trails in New York in New Jersey. Don has become a great friend to Sassquad Trail Running and has served as the squatchtastic liaison for all of our fundraising efforts for the Trail Conference. He is also the mastermind behind the race courses for our Harriman Big Bear SquaTCh race!

This is our interview with ultra runner James Leitner! James is the founder of the non-profit MissionCleanWater. MCW provides clean drinking water and sanitation to under-served communities around the world! Sassquad Trail Running is a proud sponsor of MissionCleanWater and has supported James in his efforts to raise funds for clean drinking water! This summer, James completed a marathon a day, for 14 days, while carrying 45 pounds of water!