The Mile 99 Interview

Send us Fan Mail Hello everyone, it's been a minute! We're back with a pre-race briefing with George Ruiz, race director for the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs coming up on July 18th-19th, 2026! We cover a lot of race details in this episode and take a number of questions from the audience so make sure to tune in if you're running any of the distances from 23 km to 100 miles! George strives to put on a top-notch race for all of the entrants, and you can find out lots of details here. Be...

Send us Fan Mail Hi everyone! It's been a while, and life just gets busy with work, family, trying to train and keeping up with all of the springtime events! Sorry we've been out of touch, but look for new full-length episodes later in July and August. In the meantime, since Jess and I both volunteered at Western States this past weekend, we thought it would be fun to record some mini episodes to let you know what we were up to! We hope you'll enjoy these, and we'll talk to you again soon! ht...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Mile 99 Interview, we sit down with Mike Dimond, a hometown ultrarunner from Auburn, CA, who just punched his ticket to the 2025 Western States 100—not in the main lottery, but through the exclusive M45 Automotive Auburn residents raffle! A Sacramento Metro firefighter, father, and long-time runner, Mike shares how living in the shadow of the Western States finish line shaped his dream, and how his name being drawn at the post-lottery raffle changed eve...

Send us Fan Mail In this inspiring episode of The Mile 99 Interview, we sit down with two passionate trail stewards: Elke Reimer and Tim Tollefson. You might know Tim for his elite trail running accomplishments, but today, he’s wearing a different hat—one of advocacy, stewardship, and public lands protection. Alongside him, Elke shares her deep experience in trail maintenance and volunteer coordination. Together, they unpack the behind-the-scenes work that keeps our trails runnable, beautiful...

Send us Fan Mail We had a great time chatting with Joey "Coach" Montoya, local Auburn ultrarunner, football coach and PE teacher at Placer High School. We first met Joey back in episode 60 when he was getting ready for his first attempt at the 2021 Western States. He finished the race, but as he described to us, there was a lot of stress to manage as he approached the event. Fast forward three years, and he's once again been given the honor to run the race in a designated aid station spot (El...