Auburn Endurance Capital

Athlete Bios

Adventure Racing

Jim Northey

Jim is a true endurance adventurer, with an impressive array of accomplishments in a variety of endurance sports. Jim is one of the few athletes in history to have finished both an ironman triathlon and the Western States 100-mile run.

Jim specializes in solo adventure racing, often placing in the top three overall amongst three and four-person teams. He has competed with his team in the national adventure racing championships.

Cycling

Trent Klasna

Trent is a professional road cyclist for Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. He was named the 2001 USA Cycling rider of the year. Career highlights include a national championship in the Time Trial event and a victory at the prestigious San Francisco Grand Prix. Trent lives and trains in Cool, CA.

He recently relocated from Southern California and said of this area, "When my wife and I decided to relocate, we traveled all over the state in our motor home looking for an ideal place to train. This is the best place in the country to live and train!"

Julie Young

Julie has lived in Auburn for over a decade. She recently retired from professional cycling after being one of America's best female riders and national team member from 1991-1999.

She has a national championship runner up to her credit and competed for the USA in the World Championships seven times. She has raced throughout Europe and finished the prestigious Giro D’Italia.

Today Julie has focused her competitive efforts on cross country skiing and is already competing at the elite level in her new sport.

Equestrian

Hal Hall

Hal has 35 years of endurance riding competition (since 1969). Endurance riding career includes over 8,000 miles in competition and numerous first place and top ten finishes in 50 and 100 mile one day ride competitions throughout the United States including the following:

• Inducted to the American Endurance Ride Conference Hall of Fame (March
  2000).
• Successfully finished the Tevis Cup 100-Mile Ride 24 times out of 30
  attempts. One of four to earn a "2,000 Mile Twenty Day" buckle.
• Three-time winner of the arduous Western States (Tevis Cup) 100 Miles
  One Day Ride and recipient of the Lloyd Tevis Cup (1974, 1977, and
  1990).
• Three-time winner of the James Ben Ali Haggin Cup for the contestant
  whose horse is judged to be in the most superior condition from the
  first ten to finish in the Tevis Cup Ride (1972, 1978, 2002).
• Successfully completed the United Arab Emirates President's Cup 160 km
  (100 miles) Endurance Race, Abu Dhabi, UAE (February 2002).

Kathie Perry

1978 Tevis Cup winner and holder of 15 Tevis buckles, Kathie Perry will forever have a place in endurance history; a founding member of the American Endurance Ride Conference Hall of Fame, on the Board of Governors for the Western States Trail Ride and ride manager for the American River 50 Mile Endurance Ride for the past 33 years.

“I have trained for 750 miles to ride a 50 mile ride then to get pulled at the 40 mile point. Yes, we dare to risk failure. This sport is the ultimate trial of horse and rider team testing fitness and determination. Some riders set goals, some in search of victory, others simply hoping to finish within the allotted time, but we all know – ‘TO FINISH IS TO WIN!’ ”, says Kathie.

Potato Richardson - 2-time winner of Tevis Cup 100-mile ride, gearing up for the 50th Anniversary of the event this summer.

Marcia Smith

Marcia is a veterinarian at Loomis Basin Veterinary Clinic and 3-time winner of the Tevis Cup, each earned on a different horse.

Mountain Biking

Matt Chynoweth

Matt has lived in Auburn since 2001. In his second year racing the 24 hour solo mountain bike division, he has quickly ascended to the highest levels of the sport.

In 2003, he completed an incredible four different 24-hour competitions, placing in the top 5 in each one. His season was capped by the 2003 World Championships in Whistler, BC. In 2004 he was signed by Cannondale and placed second at the early season Temecula 24 hour event, completing 199 miles on a loop course in 24 hours.

Brad Kearns

Brad was one of the world's top professional triathletes from 1986-1994. He was the 1991 National Champion and ranked #3 in the world. Brad won over 30 events in his professional career and is a noted author, speaker and coach in the endurance sports world.

Brad's company Bradventures is the promoter of World's Toughest Endurance events in Auburn.

Ultrarunning

Mo Bartley

Mo (pictured with coach and husband Brian Hacker) started her endurance career as a Ride 'N Tie competitor in the late '80s. Moving to ultrarunning, she was a member of the 1988 USA 100K team that competed in the World Championships in Southern Japan, and has completed five Western States Endurance Runs with a best time of 22 hours and 7 minutes.

Recently Mo has focused on shorter distance racing and is a top-ranked runner in the 40-49 age division for both cross country and road racing. She is married to Brian Hacker, her coach and also accomplished road and ultra racer.

Rae Clark

With one of the landmark performances in U.S. ultra history, Rae set the still standing American 100-Mile Road Record (12:12:19) in 1989 at the Sri Chinmoy USA 100 Mile Championship on a one-mile road loop course in Queens, New York. In 1990 he set the still standing American Record for distance run on a track within a 24-hour period (165.3 miles). He has run over 150 marathons and 130 ultra marathon running events, winning 30 of the ultra events outright including the 1985 American River 50-Miler (6:26:12). Rae has completed 13 Western States 100-Mile Endurance Runs, all under 24 hours, usually finishing in the top 5%.

Rae is a teacher and a coach in the Placer County area, often working with special needs children. He is a willing mentor for newcomer endurance athletes of all levels and is a Pace Team Leader for a number of marathon events including the California International Marathon for the last three years.

Julie Fingar

Julie Fingar, 28, is an inspiring example of a relative newcomer to the sport of ultra running. She began competing in 2002 and at her first Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run that year she finished 7th woman and received the coveted silver buckle for her sub-24-hour finish time of 23:07; in 2003 she improved her finish time by 23 minutes (22:44) and was 8th woman.

Most recently she won the women's race at the Rocky Raccoon 100-Miler in Texas February 2004, setting the fourth fastest women's time recorded on this course. Julie is also the 2003 Pacific Association/USATF Ultra Grand Prix age group winner and has numerous other ultra victories. She spends her time off the trail working on event management teams and 'running' her personal coaching and consulting business - Fit to Run.

Bill Finkbeiner

Bill has completed over 145 ultra marathon events including 39 one hundred-mile trail races. Bill was also a member of the "Western States Winter Crossing" team.

In 1992 within a 15-week period Bill completed the coveted "Western Slam" - finishing four 100-mile events (the Western States Endurance Run, Leadville 100 in Colorado, Wasatch 100 in Utah, and Angeles Crest 100 in Southern California). He placed 7th, 3rd, 3rd, and 5th overall respectively. More recently, in 2003, Bill was the first person ever to receive the "Leadville 2000-Mile Buckle" for his unprecedented 20 finishes at the Leadville 100-Mile Run. Only two people have ever received a 20-time single event 100-mile award - Bill Finkbeiner and Tim Twietmeyer.

Bill twice paced a hearing-impaired woman the entire 100-mile distance at the Western States Endurance Run. Bill is a landscape contractor and lives in Auburn with his wife Beth, their son Christian (10) and daughter Rachel (7). Beth is also an accomplished ultra distance runner.

Nancy March

At age 29 (1976), Nancy took up running to lose a few pounds for a friend's wedding and to improve her overall fitness. In the process she also gave up smoking and never looked back. Her first ultra finish was the 1981 American River 50-Miler and has competed at a high level since then

Nancy holds many age division records, including the ones at both the Western States Endurance Run (23:15:20) and at the AR 50 (8:38:42). In 2003 she finished her 10th WSER, earning the coveted "1000-Mile" buckle.
Nancy and her husband Steve moved to Cool in 1991. Steve is a teacher at Del Oro High School and Nancy is a Physical Therapy Technician with Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital. They have three children and seven grandchildren who all enjoy and participate in a wide range of fitness activities.

Tim Twietmeyer

Tim is a true legend in the ultrarunning world. His streak of 22 consecutive sub-24 hour Western States 100-mile run finishes is unmatched in the history of the sport. Tim is a 5-time winner of the Western States 100-mile run and has numerous other ultra victories to his credit.

In January of 2004, Tim added a remarkable achievement to his resume, completing a winter crossing of the Sierra on foot. Tim, Bill Finkbeiner and Dean Karnazes used snowshoes for 17 hours then finished on foot in a total of 26 hours, becoming the first humans to cross the Sierra on foot during winter in over 150 years.

Tom Johnson

Tom is a 3-time winner of the Western States 100-mile run and former course record holder with the second fastest time in history. Tom, of Loomis, CA, is also an accomplished endurance horse rider and ride&tie competitor.

Tom was invited to the United Arab Emirates to be the human competitor in an 80 kilometer race against an Arabian horse. The horse was required to have two 40-minute breaks during the event, effectively giving Tom (who could eat and drink on the run) an 80-minute edge.

When the horse's jockey discovered Tom's lead to be increasing she cut the second break in half and the charged off to catch him. Tom held on to his led and managed to beat the pair by a few seconds!

Tom now competes in the combined horse and runner events called "Ride and Tie".