Board of Directors

• 1965: Started competing in North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC) Rides (competitive trail rides); Crewed on Tevis and have not missed a Tevis since then. Crewed for Tevis and Haggin Cup winners and top 10 finishers. Finished Tevis five times and conditioned a number of horses for other successful Tevis riders.
• 1967: President of the Los Altos Junior Horsemen, completed first endurance ride (Castle Rock Ride)
• 1968: College; began professionally training horses
• 1970: Campaigned in NATRC; won NATRC Sr. Horsemanship Award
• 1972: Animal Science Major at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; Manager, Cal Poly NATRC Ride; Certified as NATRC horsemanship judge
• 1979: Started showing Arabians
• 1990: Earned teaching credential; Western States Trail Foundation Board member; Cup Committee member; Chairman of Historical Committee; head volunteer at Michigan Bluff Vet Check ; Won Arabian Horse Association (AHA) Champion Competitive Horse; Reserve Endurance and Best Condition
• 1998: WSTF Chairman of the Historical Committee; with the help of Bob Kelley, conducted video interviews of historical Tevis personalities
• 2018: Founded Western States Trail Museum. Gathered historical artifacts and formed board and committees. Established non-profit status, corporation and opened financial backing avenues.

Christina Richter began her career in the corporate world, working for both Hewlett-Packard Company and Nestle Food Company over a 15-year span. Once she and her husband moved their family from Southern to Northern California in 1997, her interests shifted to the Arts and non-profit pursuits.

She first wrote for, then became editor of, the Arts Council of Placer County’s “Perspectives” arts magazine. She also served as Executive Director of the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra, and Community Relations Manager for Barnes & Noble booksellers. In 2013 she authored the biography of the Roseville Fiddyment family titled “Walk With Me, I Want To Tell You Something.” She served three terms as President of the Roseville Historical Society (2013-2019) and was also Vice President of the Sacramento Historical Society (SHS). SHS awarded Christina the “History Enlightenment Award” for her efforts to save the historic Fiddyment pioneer ranch house in West Roseville.

She presently works for Placer County Museums in a part-time position, working primarily to support the Curator of Collections. Christina serves on the Placer County Historical Advisory Board, is Regional Vice President for the Conference of California Historical Societies and writes a monthly history article for Gold Country Media. Her book “Past and Present Placer County” will be released by Arcadia Publishing May 1, 2023.

 Christina and her husband currently reside on their beloved property in old Granite Bay and enjoy frequent visits from their daughters Audrey and Anna.

• 1967 – Graduate of Wentworth and Linda Tellington’s Pacific Coast Equestrian Research Farm School of Horsemanship where the U.S. Cavalry Methodology of Horsemanship was taught. Began endurance riding.
• 1970s – Seven years of experience in the Thoroughbred horse industry in California and Kentucky.
• 1976 – Crewed on a four-month adventure for a participant in the Great American Horse Race, was among the group that split off and formed the 1976 Pony Express Race traveling the grueling 1,960-mile Pony Express Trail while living through pioneer-like experiences during profound adventure.
• 1977 – Employed by Wendell T. Robie at the Heart Federal Savings & Loan Association, mecca for the Western States Trail Foundation.
• 1977 – Co-Founder Western States Endurance Run, serving on its Board of Directors for 33 years, currently Emeritus Director.
• Along with Italian sculpture, Franco Vianello, created the Cougar Trophy, and San Francisco artist Jacque Boothorn the WSER logo, conceived the coveted Cougar sterling silver completion buckle, later named by Runner’s World 2000 Best of Running magazine’s nationwide survey as the Best Race Award.
• Western States Endurance Run Little Cougar Award recipient.
• 1978 – Claimed the phrase “Auburn Endurance Capital of the World” for the City of Auburn, CA.
• 1977 & 1979 – Completed the Tevis Cup Ride two out of four attempts.
• 1982-83 – Two-year stint in Pago Pago, American Samoa, South Pacific.
• 1986-96 Corporate risk management software company that managed claims for Fortune 500 companies. Helped bridge technical information into easy to understand client training programs.
• 2000 – Created the Western States Endurance Run RAFFLE in an effort to generate funds for trail maintenance and preservation. Its success has raised nearly a million dollars and supports the Trail Stewardship program and medical research projects benefiting the entire sport of ultra-running.
• 2003 – Co-founder of the City of Auburn’s Endurance Capital of the World designation and Committee Member.
• 2008 – Recognized in Auburn’s Endurance Zone’s with an inaugural sidewalk tile citing “Curt Sproul, Phil Gardner, Mo Livermore and Shannon Weil – The Gang of Four” as the creators of the Western States Endurance Run’s infrastructure and taking it to an internationally acclaimed trail race.
• 2013 – Authored Strike A Long Trot – Legendary Horsewoman Linda Tellington-Jones, a 356-page book covering the 40-years of her distinguished life and equestrian career. It chronicles her  School of Horsemanship, pioneering the sport of endurance riding, three-day eventing and steeple chase racing with the Hungarian horses and much Tevis Cup Ride history. Five decades later, the friends still work together on many projects including training presentations, advertisements, and social media content.
• 2019 – Inducted into the Sacramento Running Association’s Hall of Fame for her groundbreaking work on establishing the Western States Endurance Run.
• Shannon is a graphic designer and a resident of Cool, California.

Phil Sexton is a senior cultural and historic interpreter for California State Parks in Sacramento, and from 2009-2017, he was the Deputy Director of the California State Railroad Museum.

• Phil has worked for USDA Forest Service on the Tahoe, Inyo and Sequoia National Forests and for the National Park Service at Redwood National Park.

• He is a life member of the National Association for Interpretation and is a certified NAI interpretive trainer and guide. He is a member of the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) and the National Council on Public History (NCPH.)

• He has a B.Sc. from Humboldt State University in California.

• He’s a contributor to Stanford University’s Chinese Railroad Workers in America project, and is the only non-PhD. Faculty member for the UC Davis History Project, Teaching the Transcontinental Railroad, which provides continuing education for teachers from around the country.

• As an historian/cultural interpreter, he has spoken to groups interested in railroad and 19th century history of western expansion in many locations, including the Smithsonian Museum of American History, National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City and the Oakland California Museum.

• He has a continuing relationship with the 1882 Foundation and other groups promoting Chinese-American history.

He has also presented on various aspects of cultural interpretation and communication at NAI Conferences and workshops across the nation.

•In 2002, he received the Gifford Pinchot award for excellence in interpretation from USDA Forest Service, and in 2017 was named a Master Interpretive Manager by the National Association for Interpretation.

• Phil works with film and documentary producers and authors to do research, validate facts, provide context and review scripts. He has worked with film and video producers in the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan and China, and been an interview subject in episodes of Tough Trains, Great American Railway Journeys, Ten Things that Changed America and Journey to Promontory on PBS.

• From 2012-2015, Phil consulted with the producers and writing staff of Hell on Wheels, which aired on the AMC network and currently streams on Netflix.

• He also consults with and provides training for museums and natural history centers who are interested in providing quality services to their visitors.

Phil lives in Auburn CA on a one-acre farm called “Wise Acres.”

• Governor Emeritus after 25 years on Western States Trail Foundation Board of Governors
• Recipient of Western States Trail Foundation’s Dru Barner Award in 2022
• Tevis Cup Ride dedicated to Kate in 2014
• Award winning journalist and photographer
• Marketing specialist
• Promoted personalities to top of their fields
• Award winning television director and producer
• Executive producer of “They Crossed the Mountains” documentary about the Western States Trail
• Editor, Sierra Heritage Magazine
• Editor of three major equine magazines