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Tim Twietmeyer

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Auburn, CA

Bio
Tim's extraordinary ultrarunning career has spanned over 25 years. Tim is well known for his accomplishments at the Western States Endurance Run. Tim ran the Western States 100 at only 22-years of age, a feat that he returned to complete 24 more times. Tim is the only person to ever complete the Western States a total of 25 times all with impressive sub-24-hour finishes. Tim was the first man to win five Western States winning in 1992, 1994-1996, and in 1998 and he currently holds the course record with a time of 17:17 in the masters (over 40 years of age) division. Tim's love for the Western States runs deep, he has served 10 years on the board of trustees and is currently the president of the Western States Endurance Run Foundation.

Tim's accomplishments are not just limited to the Western States. Tim has completed more than 200 marathon and ultra-marathon races during his career. He has completed both the American River 50 Mile Run and the California International Marathon over 20 times and has won the California 50-mile Endurance Run seven times. Tim's 50-mile and 50K wins are too numerous to mention. He has also won the Eagle 100-miler in Canada and has completed Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (155K), the most difficult trail race in Europe.

Tim's athletic achievements are not limited to just trail running. Tim's fastpacking accomplishments include a sub-six-day completion of the 211-mile John Muir Trail and the first completion of the 165-mile Tahoe Rim trail in less than two days. In January of 2004, Tim, Dean Karnazes, and Bill Finkbeiner completed a winter crossing of the Sierra. They roughly followed the 100-mile Western States Trail completing an estimated 75 miles of the trail. They completed the route in a total of 26 hours using snowshoes for 17 hours.

Tim generally runs 60-80 miles a week, which is less than most ultrarunners. He likes to run a 50-mile training run or race every three to four weeks when training hard for a long, difficult race such as the Western States. Tim says that he has never been a high mileage guy since he never gets too far out of racing shape. Tim also keeps active with mountain biking and cycling, which could enable him to maintain his racing level of fitness.

When not out running or competing, Tim spends his time with his wife and three sons. The youngest of his sons has taken the most interest in his running and has paced Tim at Western States. Tim has worked for Hewlett-Packard for over 20 years and works currently as a technical marketing manager. Tim also can be seen out on the weekend not only running trails but also working on trail maintenance as part of his role as president of the Western States Endurance Run Foundation. Tim is currently working to advocate the Western States Trail as a National Historic and Scenic Trail. This legislation is currently under study before Congress and such designation would put the Western Trail on the same level of protective status as the Pacific Crest Trail and the John Muir Trail.

Career Highlights

Western States 100 %u2013 1st place (1992, 1994-1996, and 1998); fifteen top-five finishes, 25 finishes, master's division course record holder (17:17)

Tahoe Rim Trail %u2013 first runner to complete in under two days (2005)

The Eagle 100-Mile Trail Run %u2013 1st place and course record (1997)

California 50-Mile Endurance Run %u2013 Seven 1st place finishes