The Mile 99 Interview

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

In this episode, we are joined by Clint Welch and his daughter Halle. Clint has been a fixture on the Northern California ultrarunning scene for a number of years, and his daughter Halle has taken up running to follow in his footsteps. We talked to both of them about the experience as Halle decided to take on this sport, what she likes, what she doesn't like and how she is coached. We got a good sense about how to approach encouraging your children just enough, whether in running or any...

In this episode of the First 99 Gear Review, co-host Mike Turner sits down with our very own Greg Larkin to chat about winter cross training activities. It’s the New Year, and the time to start planning our race and training schedules. But many of us have found over the years it’s essential to take time off and let the body heal. Balancing staying fit, letting the body heal, and staying sane is the key to years of healthy adventures. In this two-part series we discuss off-season activities...

In our final episode with Rebecca Sperry, she joined us for a live wrap-up interview as she recently completed her twelve rounds of chemotherapy and is starting a new phase of cancer treatment. During the interview, we reflected on her journey since we first reached out to her to ask if she would share her story with us. It has been difficult for her and getting harder with each round of chemotherapy, but she has maintained a positive attitude and desire to keep her fitness as much as...

Katie Grossman, an accomplished professional mountain ultrarunner, advertising creative, soon-to-be mother of two and assistant RD of the Angeles Crest 100, sat down with us to talk about her early life, running and racing at the highest levels, life/family balance and the importance of protecting our open spaces. She and her husband Dominic and their family have built a life in the mountains, surrounded by beauty, that allows them to focus on what matters most and strip away as much as...

In the last of our prerecorded episodes with Rebecca Sperry, a hiker from New Hampshire who was in the midst of hiking all of the trails in the White Mountain National Forest until she received a breast cancer diagnosis in August 2020, she joined us with an update on how her cancer treatment has been progressing as she nears the end of her rounds of chemotherapy. This episode focuses primarily on her planning, gear and nutrition that she uses for her hikes, whether it was a planned hike to...

Jocelyn Watson joined us for our 24th episode to talk about her running career starting all the way back in middle school, through high school, into college and beyond. She started out in track and cross-country but eventually found her way to trail running and now thoroughly prefers that discipline. She has an impressive racing resume (including the steeplechase in her track days!) and is looking forward to her first 100 miler. Jocelyn is also a manager at the Fleet Feet store in Folsom,...

In this episode of the First 99 Gear Review, co-hosts Mike Turner and Greg Larkin talked to gear reviewer and ultrarunner Brian Goldman about the Coros and Garmin running watches, their features and modes and of course, strengths and weaknesses! Garmin is the established player in the space with excellent brand recognition, and while Coros is relatively new on the scene, they offer incredible battery life that can be extremely useful for long ultra distance running races and other...

The modern-day Forlorn Hope Expedition Team sat down with us in this episode to talk about the genesis, planning and execution of their recently-completed journey from Donner Memorial State Park in Truckee, CA to Johnson's Ranch in Wheatland. Their route closely mirrored that of the original Forlorn Hope team that left the stranded Donner Party on December 16th, 1846 in an attempt to find rescue for the starving settlers. The original Forlorn Hope party faced an arduous trek through the...

Rebecca Sperry, a hiker from New Hampshire joined us for the third of several episodes talking about her redlining goal in the White Mountain National Forest when she was temporarily sidelined by a breast cancer diagnosis in August 2020. In this episode, Rebecca updated us about her 9th round of chemotherapy and how she has been handling that. We then spent time talking about the people in her life who support her through her cancer diagnosis and treatment - her mother and her husband...

Auburn resident Eddie Schmidt sat down with us for a great conversation about his early years as a runner and how much family and the ultrarunning community means to him. Eddie started running seriously later in life after some inspiration early on from his sister and then meeting several people over the years. He was joined by his daughter Hannah, a new convert to ultrarunning with support from her dad. She was a key part of his 2010 Western States experience where at the age of 15, she...

In this episode of the First 99 Gear Review, our co-host Mike Turner delves into the Topo Athletic Trailventure trail running/light hiker shoe. He explores the reasons he decided on this shoe initially and then the experiences he had with it running and hiking all over the harsh trails of the Northern California river canyons and volcanic rock formations of the high mountains. Tune in to hear the whole story! Topo Athletic Trailventure shoe models:...

Rebecca Sperry, a hiker from New Hampshire joined us for the second of several episodes talking about her redlining goal in the White Mountain National Forest when she was temporarily sidelined by a breast cancer diagnosis in August 2020. In this episode, we got an update from Rebecca about how she has been feeling through her 7th week of chemotherapy out of 12 total weeks. She also described in more detail what the original month-long diagnostic process was like and the eventual surgery...

Western States Endurance Run race director Craig Thornley, board member Tim Twietmeyer and medical director Dr. Andy Pasternak joined us for our 21st episode to talk all about the current state of the race as we head into 2021. We found out about how the board reacted to the original onset of the pandemic, handling the cancellation and the plans to hold the race in 2021. Dr. Pasternak, with his background in epidemiology, also spent time explaining the various vaccine development efforts,...

In this episode of the First 99 Gear Review, our co-host Mike Turner delves into two popular GPS trackers that are perfect for expeditions into remote areas with no cellular service. Tune in to hear Mike's thoughts on what features he likes for different types of outings, comparison of plans and other features. SPOT Tracker products: https://www.findmespot.com/en-us/products-services SPOT service plans:...

Donner Party Mountain Runners board member Chris Cloyd held a virtual conversation with Jeff Rauenhorst, local Incline Village resident, who set a new high mark for the unsupported FKT (Fastest Known Time) on the 310-mile Superior Hiking Trail in September 2020. Hear Jeff and Chris dig into the details of this amazing route, what led up to this outing, the ins and outs of his experience on the trail for 6+ days, his inspiration to go after this record, and more! Link References: Fastest...