Soulstice Mountain Trail Run Podcast
Welcome to Soulstice Mountain Trail Run Podcast. Over the months leading up to the 20th running of Soulstice on October 12, 2019, we will profile a runner and find out about their passion for Soulstice. To register for the April 1st lottery, click here.
1/25/2019: Caleb Schiff, owner of Pizzicletta, and 11 time Soulstice Mountain Trail Run participant.
On a beautifully warm late January day, we touched base with Caleb Schiff in the friendly confines of his beloved restaurant, Pizzicletta. Caleb has been once of Soulstice's most consistent runners having placed in the top 7 overall during all 11 of his Sousltice Mountain Trail runs spanning 14 years. He nearly won the 2006 race, only 18 seconds behind champion Eric Bohn.
Here is a link to the early days of Caleb's backyard pizza oven and the Soulstice trophy he embedded in the oven door!
Just two days ago, Caleb offered unpaid government employees a free pizza a day at Pizzicletta until the shutdown ends. During the podcast Caleb discusses how he got started in the restaurant business after working in the Northern Arizona University Geology Department, the story behind his shutdown offer, and his thoughts and memories about the Soulstice Mountain Trail Run. Listen to the Podcast below.
On left, Caleb Schiff in front of his Pizzicletta brick oven wearing the new NATRA shapeshifter and on right, finishing the 2017 Soulstice Mountain Trail Run with his aerodynamic pizza slice running suit (Helen Galerakis photo credit).
1/21/2019: Sara Wagner, Grants that Go the Distance, and 6 time champion of the Soulstice Mountain Trail Run.
On a blustery, snowy Martin Luther King Day, we caught up with Sara Wagner who has a record six Soulstice Mountain Trail Run titles under her belt. We conducted the podcast in her cozy historic downtown house which is an art gallery of awards from the dozens of the races she has placed in or won. Throughout the interview Sara reflects on the many friends and connections that inspire her to continue to compete at such a high level. When she is not training hard, Sara writes "Grants that Go the Distance." You can visit her website at http://sarawagnergrants.com
Sara is currently looking for an American female aged 45-49 years to compete for a United States team award (two persons constitute a team) at the World Masters Mountain Running Championship in Southeastern Italy.
Sara Wagner aside her favorite David McKee poster while holding a treasured Josh Biggs photograph taken during her first Soulstice in the epic 2006 deluge.
1/14/2019: Dr. Shara Bailey, New York University Department of Anthropology, An inaugural 1997 Soulstice finisher.
Our first featured runner is Dr. Shara Bailey, a biological anthropologist from New York University. Shara has spent a career traveling the world for her research and is an expert in Neanderthal dental morphology. While teaching anthropology at Northern Arizona University and Coconino Community College, she was one of the first 30 runners at the inaugural 1997 Soulstice Mountain Trail Run. While visiting my father in New York City last week, I caught up with Shara in her office. In this podcast she discusses her research and memories of that very first Soulstice race! Listen to the Podcast below.
Dr. Bailey studying cast of the "Old Man" of La Chapelle in her office at New York University
