I’m Will, pleased to meet you. A former colleague duped me into running a half-marathon in 2002. I had no idea what I got myself into. Three hours and eight minutes after the starter gun went off, I draped the finisher towel over my head and silently sobbed. Since then, I’ve run many more miles, but that half-marathon debut remained the toughest running experience. Somehow, that pain turned into a lifetime appreciation for the act of putting one foot in front of the other. I love anything from time-trialing a 5000m to marathons to trail ultras to simply playing in the mountains and ocean. (Some stats: 2:56:44 marathon PB and completed countless ultramarathons of varying distances.)

What is your favorite race nutrition?

When it comes to racing, energy gels are my go to. Although I haven’t found options that I consider truly tasty, they are undoubtedly the most convenient to carry and highly efficient in energy delivery. Here are my current favorites. GU Vanilla Bean, Hammer Peanut Butter, Maurten Gel 100, and Precision Fuel 90.

What is the dumbest sports nutrition mistake you’ve ever made?

My dumbest mistakes always come down to not fueling enough. Whether it was being too lazy to prep a pre-workout snack, forgetting to replenish loss nutrients after a big effort, or not bringing enough food on trail runs to save weight, inadequate fueling always lead to bad things down the line.

What is your ultimate endurance sports goal?

As runners, we all want to run faster and farther. I also realized that as a middle age dude, speed and endurance decrease with age. There is an urgency to hit some lofty goals I set for myself. Over the next 5 years, I want to get my marathon PB down to sub-2:50 and run the Western States Endurance Run under 24 hours (this also requires a little help from the running and lottery gods).