Posts Categorized: Interviews

TLDR: Be prepared to climb, sweat,and pack your own nutrition for this minimally supported 50k. The backcountry terrain and expansive views are breathtaking and worth coming back for. At the very least, scroll for amazing race pictures by James Holk. 

Trails and Tarmac is excited to announce our newest coach selection. Gabe Joyes hails from Lander Wyoming. He’s coached trail and ultra athletes for the past four years and brings loads of experience and massive amounts of enthusiasm to our amazing team of coaches. Gabe is a farther of two as well as a high school social studies teacher. If you take a gander at his ultra sign up page you’ll see that mountain 100 milers are his jam! He’s supported by La Sportiva.

We know that anyone who has the luck to be able to work with Gabe as an athlete is going to be more than thrilled. Check out our interview with Gabe below to get to know more about what makes it tick. Get in touch with us here if you are interested in learning more about engaging Gabe or any of our other Trails and Tarmac coaches to help you take your running to the next level.

For many trail runners, sharing miles with their dog is one of the greatest joys. It’s evident that dogs love being out in nature, roaming through the hills and mountains just as much as their human counterparts. If you are a new dog owner, or are considering how to bring your dog into the trail running fold, there can be a lot to know. Trails & Tarmac interviewed two of our athletes who are both avid runners, skiers, trail lovers, and of course dog owners. Alli and Dani both live in Bend, Oregon and work for Ruffwear, a performance dog gear company. Alli’s dogs Riggins and Firnspiegel, and Dani’s dog Vilas are totally their partners in crime. They have taught their human companions a great deal about how dogs tick on the trail in both the front country near town, and in the backcountry, many miles from the nearest road. In this article we’ll share what they have taught us about trail running with dogs.

This Saturday, February 29th, Trails and Tarmac coaches, Camelia Mayfield and Rachel Drake will be competing in the Olympic Trials Marathon.  Along with 509 other women, they will have the opportunity to qualify for an Olympic Team and represent team USA in Tokyo.

A 2016 Trials qualifier himself, Coach David Laney asked both Camelia and Rachel a few questions about the transition from trail to road and eventually back to trail again.

Likely trail running’s fastest middle school teacher, Tyler Green started 2019 off with a bang by winning Bandera 100k and earning himself a Golden Ticket into Western States 100. Last year he set the fastest known time on the 40 mile Timberline Trail around Mt. Hood and placed 3rd at the Sean Obrien 100K. He has lived in Nepal and Libya, and been running competitively since he got his start on the 2nd grade cross country team. Get to know a little more about Tyler in the following interview that digs into his 2019 racing schedule, love of teaching and must read books. 

Our newest coach is Rachel Drake! A few weeks after a second place finish at the 2019 US 50K Trail Championships Rachel won the Trail du Ventoux 46km. Last year she won the Waldo 100K and USA Trail Marathon Championships in Moab. Between great races Rachel pursues her MD/PhD at Oregon Health and Science University, with a focus on metabolism. We are thrilled to have her joining the Trails and Tarmac coaching team!

Last weekend Trails and Tarmac coaches Camelia Mayfield and Cole Watson raced the California International Marathon, both punched tickets to the 2020 Marathon Olympic Trials.  Camelia finished in 2:42:38 and Cole in 2:18:05. We got the chance to ask them a few questions about their training, the race, and their new plans for 2019 and 2020!

This is the first installment in what will become an ongoing series of interviews with different Trails and Tarmac athletes. We coach runners from all over the world training for all types of races. What we know as coaches is that there is so much to learn from each and every runner we work with. We will let our runners tell their stories in their own words and I think we’ll all come away with motivation, new ideas, and an appreciation for every type of running under the sun.

In episode #1 we talk with Jacob Robert. He lives in Michigan with his fiance near Detroit. He’s run races from 5k through the 100 miler while training with Trails and Tarmac with fervor and focus for both the long and the short. We thought he’d be the perfect athlete to start our interview series with. Shoot us an email (info@trailsandtarmac.com) or message on Instagram to let us know what you think and what you might like to see from these interviews in the future.

It’s been a little over a month since Alex Nichols set the Nolans 14 supported fastest known time (FKT). For those unfamiliar with Nolans 14, it’s basically 100 miles that links 14 Peaks all over 14,000, much of it is off trail and very rugged. This record is a mountain of a feat, in fact it is 14 of them. We also thought Alex Nichols and the Nolans 14 would be a great band name… but I digress, Here is our quick interview with Alex.

PC: David Hedges

 

I’ve been asked a thousand times why I run, or how I started running. I’ve probably answered this question a thousand different ways but it always comes back around to me waiting on the porch for my Dad to get back from his morning run, so I could join him for a few laps around the block. My Dad never really pushed me to run, if anything it was quite the opposite.  Seeing as my Dad is 70 and still running strong I thought folks might be interested in his perspective on running.