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The Mile 99 Interview

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Send us a text 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! http...
Send us a text 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 every...
Send us a text 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 a text 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 D...
Send us a text George Ruiz, race director of the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs, dropped by to talk about the changes for the 2025 race after getting word that a major reconstruction project would prevent the new 100k and popular 100 mile race from occurring this year. This was a shock to the trail running community since this race is incredibly popular and has extremely dedicated entrants. George didn't just decide to close up for 2025 once he found out that the dam at Marlette Lake had to b...
Send us a text Fourmidable race director Paulo Medina and original founder of the Mile 99 Interview visited us to go over everything related to this year's race! It's one of the traditional 50k races in the Auburn area to kick another season of trail and ultrarunning and always draws a great crowd! There are multiple distances and lots of great information to share about each one in the episode and we went over all of the pre-race and race day details and fielded questions from the audience t...
Send us a text Bri hung out for a while after the main show and talked about her White Mountain Traverse FKT from Boundary Peak in Nevada to White Mountain in California - inspiring stuff! She also shared advice for runners whether they are just getting into trail running or even if they've been around a while. HINT: plan for longevity and incorporate cross training! We talked about other bucket list trips and adventures, so make sure to tune in and get some ideas for yourself! We finally wra...
Send us a text Bri joined us for a fantastic episode where we learned all about her start as a young kid riding her bike and chasing her mom on her runs. She was instinctively drawn to climbing any nearby hill, and this fit well with her future direction in life! Fast forward to recent years and to the present day, and Bri has become a highly accomplished ultrarunner, coach and FKT holder. Her journey and stories about her many endeavors have great lessons for all of us, whether we're j...
Send us a text Happy New Year everyone! We caught up with previous guest Todd Woodward as we kick off 2025 after a bit of a break. Todd last joined us in 2024 after his speedy performance at Miwok 100k. Unfortunately, he had to spend a bit of time rehabbing his ankle after that race and we got all of the details about how that went. He finished the year strong with a solid performance at the NorCal Backyard Ultra and a podium finish at the Doomsday Half Marathon. For 2025, he's gunning for ...
Send us a text Wow, where does the time go?? Hello again everyone, and sorry for being out of touch since our last episode in July before TRT. A lot has happened since then for both of us, and we've missed our trail running community and audience, and we're so glad you're all still here for us. Jess and I sat down for a catching-up episode to get us back on track, and we're looking forward to more episodes this fall. We covered what we've been doing for the past few months, some of the chang...
Send us a text Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Runs race director George Ruiz joined us again this year to dig into all of the last minute details of the race, answer runner and crew questions and get everyone pumped for the race! We got through a ton of information and audience questions, and if you're running, crewing, volunteering or supporting the race in any way, don't miss this one! TRT main site TRT live tracker --- The Mile 99 Interview | Linktree Your Hosts: Jessica Harris / Greg Larkin...
Send us a text Our favorite guest, Western States race director Craig Thornley, made some time in his extremely busy schedule before the race to join us for some updates and his plans for the rest of the year. Things are slowly getting back to normal after the Mosquito Fire, and the Duncan Canyon and Dusty Corners aid stations can be accessed via Mosquito Ridge Road again - welcome news! We also talked about other events surrounding the race like the Friends of the Trail awards and the Inter...
Send us a text Ken Michal joined us for an in-depth conversation about his journey from heavy smoking to his current endeavors at all distances of trail runs as well as long timed events. He recently completed the Pigtails Challenge 200 miler in Washington state, winning in a time of just over 71 hours. We delve into his philosophy around training and racing and all of the things that he has learned over his many years running over 150 races, so tune in to hear more! And check out his podca...
Send us a text Folsom runner Todd Woodward first discovered road running later in life and then found his true calling of trail and ultrarunning right before the pandemic started in 2020. He has taken an analytical approach to his training, nutrition, strategy and racing and has great advice for others looking to pick up the sport after the age of 40. He has just finished a sub-14 hour Miwok 100k in absolutely horrible weather conditions and lived to tell! This is just one of the many storie...
Send us a text Doctors JoAnn Ellero and Andy Pasternak joined us to talk about how they met in med school, their evolution together as runners and JoAnn's ultimate goal of running Western States happening this June! We've had Dr. Andy on several times in the past as part of our Western States episodes in his role as the medical director, and now we get to learn more about JoAnn and him, all of the races they've done together, both road and trail, and all of the buildup to this June! They are...
Send us a text Things got a little busy for the Mile 99 team after the Canyons pre-race briefing and before the start of the race so this is showing up a little late, but we had some time with Abbey, Sean and Chaz after the show. We delved into talking about the various aid stations, their captains and dedicated volunteers and the community that has been built around this iconic race for the past decade. From Greg's standpoint as a runner this year, the race itself went off without a hitch, ...
Send us a text The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB are less than a week away, and race directors Chaz Sheya, Abbey Drake and Sean Flanagan joined us to go over all of the late-breaking information and updates needed for runners, pacers, crew members and volunteers. It's going to be a huge party in Auburn and on the trails over April 25th-27th, 2024, so make sure to tune in here and see you on course! Volunteer signup page - get involved! Canyons Endurance Runs runner guide "Where's my runne...
Send us a text Join Jessica for this week's episode as she sits down with Ken Krogsrud of Bad Luck Run Club to talk about the second annual Placer Trail Running Festival! Now in its second year, the PTRF offers something for everyone from a 50k race to a 1k kid's race, a 5k canicross event and many other distances. This is truly a running festival, held over April 13th and 14th this year, and Ken and Jessica get into all of the pre-race details that you'll need to know. So grab the whole fa...
Send us a text Ethan Veneklasen, co-race director of the Broken Arrow Skyrace sat down with us to do a deep dive in the origins of the race, the formation of the team that brings this unique and iconic event to the Tahoe region and how it has grown over the years. The Broken Arrow Skyrace is now a nationally and internationally recognized race that has grown hugely popular but still retains its grassroots feel. The race directors are committed to each and every entrant and the community that...
Send us a text Bob, Tim, Elke, Jennifer and Hal from the History Expeditions team hung around with us for a bit after the main show and we got the inside scoop on the snoring volume, the ability to ward off coyotes, team jokes and all of the great times spent around the campfire. The team connected with so many people from all walks of life along the way, adding another enriching element to their experience. Join us for all of the details! --- History Expeditions main site Elke's trail work...
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