Committee Members
The Endurance Capital Committee meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 6:00 pm at Auburn City Hall (Room 10) and on Zoom, 1225 Lincoln Way, Auburn, CA 95603. Check the AECW CALENDAR for any changes.
The ECC welcomes your presence, suggestions and questions. Email the ECC member who represents your sphere of interest. For Zoom meeting details contact City Clerk, Amy Lind.
Current members with their sphere of interest, bios and contact emails are below.
Welcome to our most recent members!
The ECC voted unanimously to submit this group to the Auburn City Council members, who unainmously approved them as official Endurance Capital Committee members at their meeting on August 12, 2024.
- Bob Peterson (photo and bio coming)
- Darci Pierce (scroll down to learn more)
- Anne Thilges (photo and bio coming)
- Erika Thompson (scroll down to learn more)
Shannon Weil
Chair, Endurance Sport Visionary, Co-Founder of WSER, ECC, Western States Trail Museum
In 1978 she created and first used the now trademarked and more recently registered phrase “Auburn, Endurance Capital of the World®”. To learn more about Shannon’s extensive (and ongoing) contributions to Auburn’s Endurance community visit her information posted on the Sacramento Running Association’s Hall of Fame page (videos, acceptance speech). She was inducted in 2019.
Ms. Dowdin Calvillo was first elected to two consecutive terms on the Auburn City Council from 1998 to 2005 and was Mayor in 2001 and 2005. During her tenure on the City Council, Ms. Dowdin Calvillo served on several commissions and committees, including the Placer County Economic Development Board (where she also served as Chair), Board of Directors for the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, Regional Wastewater Treatment and Storage Facility Joint Powers Authority, and Local Agency Formation Commission for Placer County. In addition, she was a member of the Sacramento Region Advisory Board for the Great Valley Center.
The Placer County Board of Supervisors appointed Ms. Dowdin Calvillo as the District 3 representative on the Placer County Parks Commission in 1997, where she served as its Chair in 1999 and 2000.
Ms. Dowdin Calvillo obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science-Public Service and in German from the University of California, Davis. She lives with her husband and their daughter in Auburn and is an avid trail runner and advocate for Auburn as the Endurance Capital of the World.
Alice Dowdin-Calvillo
Committee Member representing the ECC as a City Council Member
Alice was assigned to represent the City Council in mid-2020. She was the City’s Mayor in 2003, when the Endurance Capital tagline was approved by the City Council, and she wholeheartedly supported the ECC in its early days.
For more than 30 years, Auburn City Councilmember Alice Dowdin Calvillo has dedicated her career to public service at the local, regional, and state levels. Appointed to the Council in May 2020, Ms. Dowdin Calvillo filled the vacancy created by the untimely death of Mayor Bill Kirby. She went on to serve as Mayor in 2023.
Ms. Dowdin-Calvillo is also the Executive Officer of the Sacramento County Civil Service Commission, a quasi-judicial body responsible for policy direction and oversight of the merit hiring and classification systems for Sacramento County employees. From 2015 until her appointment to the Auburn City Council, Ms. Dowdin Calvillo served as the Chair of both the Auburn City Planning and the Auburn Historic Design Review commissions.
From January 2008 through December 2012, Ms. Dowdin Calvillo served as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointment to the California Public Employment Relations Board, where she served as a member and Chair of the quasi-judicial administrative agency charged with administering collective bargaining statutes affecting more than two million public sector employees working in California.
From 2005 to 2008, Ms. Dowdin Calvillo served in several senior cabinet level advisory positions to Governor Schwarzenegger, including as Chief Deputy Cabinet Secretary and as Chief Deputy Appointments Secretary. Before joining the Governor’s Office, she was Governor Schwarzenegger’s appointed Legislative Director for the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.
Governor Pete Wilson appointed Ms. Dowdin Calvillo as a Chief Advisor to the California Integrated Waste Management Board in early 1998 and prior to that she was his appointment as Deputy Director of Legislation and Operations for the Managed Health Care Improvement Task Force. Ms. Dowdin Calvillo also served as the Chief Consultant to the California State Assembly Consumer Protection, Governmental Efficiency and Economic Development Committee in the mid 1990s.
Before joining the Assembly staff, Ms. Dowdin Calvillo served in a variety of senior analytical positions within State civil service.
Cynci Calvin
Secretary, Website Content Manager, Running Rep
Cynci, an Endurance Capital Committee member since 2003, moved to Auburn in 1976 in order to have a horse in her backyard. She has been watching and participating in the growth of Auburn as the Endurance Capital of the World ever since. Although the goal of a backyard horse was replaced by running goals, her love of horses continues and she believes the best of both worlds exist here. When not out running or watching horses, she is finishing up projects for her graphic design business or her specialty map making business, MapWiz.biz. Along with the ECC, she volunteers for the Buffalo Chips Running Club and USA Track & Field’s Pacific Association. She shares her hobbies of gardening, cooking, hiking, and drinking beer with her husband Tim. Ashtanga Yoga is in her domain only..
info@auburnendurancecapital.org
Larry Grilli
Treasurer
Current Endurance Capital Committee Treasurer and a member since 2016. Larry moved to the Auburn area in 2003. Larry has always been an active volunteer in the Auburn Community and enjoys participating in local events. He joined the Endurance Capital Committee to further his involvement in the community to help promote Auburn as the “Endurance Capital of the World”. He enjoys the abundant community activities, natural attractions, endurance events, cultural charms and historical features. Larry is a Real Estate Broker with Coldwell Banker of Auburn and is pleased to be able to promote these benefits within the area and to outside visitors.
larry.grilli@camoves.com
Bob Peterson
Bio & Photo coming soon
Darci Rose Pierce
ECC Board Member since August 2024
Phil Sayre
Secretary; Cycling & Water Sports Rep
Phil Sayre is interested in water sports and mountain/road biking. He and his family moved to Auburn from the East Coast. Phil became a member of the Endurance Capital Committee in early 2018. He is a small business owner who is engaged in scientific consulting, and holds a Ph.D. from Georgetown University. He also is a Board member of the national non-profit Team River Runner, whose focus is to introduce Service Members to whitewater paddling (see www.teamriverunner.org ). Phil particularly enjoys mountain biking, open water swimming, and whitewater kayaking in the Auburn area (along with his wife Jill, and son Alex). Please let him know if you want to discuss issues associated with water sports or biking. Finally, he would like to know if you are a Service Member and want to get on the water locally. Please contact him at the e-mail address below.
phil.sayre@verizon.net
Lori Stewart
Equestrian Rep
Member of the ECC since 2016. Member of the Tevis Board of Governors. Member of the American Endurance Ride Conference. Avid endurance rider since 1976. Born in Escondido, CA. Graduate of UC Davis. Splits her time between a home in Auburn and her ranch in Georgetown.
Anne Thilges
Photo & bio coming soon
Erika Thompson
Joined the ECC in August 2024
Erika Thompson, with over a decade of outdoor experience from cycling and running races, working with USA Cycling and event promotion and industry leadership. She moved to Auburn in 2023 with her growing family to be part of this community and culture. Plus, being so close to the outdoors is a huge bonus. After working in the outdoor tech industry for the last 8 years, she is now homeschooling her three children and focused on playing a larger role in the community and at home. She tries to get on the trails as much as possible, either on foot or bike.
Gloria Takagishi
Retired from the Committee in July 2024
Thank you Gloria!
Volunteer Coordinator, Runner Rep
ECC member since 2015. Born and raised in the Auburn area. Avid runner – both trails and streets – ultramarathons and various other distances. Other volunteer activities include the Western States 100 Awards Coordinator, various duties at NorCal Ultra events, Assistant to Evening Optimist Sports Director, Junior League Sustainer, and helping out at US Open Golf Tournaments.
Robert Miller
In Memoriam
Bob was the most enthusiastic and hard working Chair our Committee could ever hope for. He was a resident of Auburn since 1990 and made good use of all the resources Auburn has for his active lifestyle that included running, biking and hiking. Since 2003, his other volunteer duties included both the Tevis Cup Ride and Western States Endurance Run. As a member of ECC since 2008 and Chair from 2012 to 2022, he will long be remembered for his energetic, passionate, friendly, and informative outreach to anyone curious about Auburn’s status as the Endurance Capital of the World®!
