Consider Glenn Meeth a product of his environment.

When he lived in Auburn Lake Trails, he watched some of the top ultrarunners in the sport cruise through his backyard. As an IT operations manager at Hewlett Packard, Meeth works just a stone’s throw from 25-time Western States Endurance Run finisher and five-time champion Tim Twietmeyer.

So it was only a matter of time before Meeth laced up his shoes and hit the trail himself. He was all ready to race in his first Western States last year, but the event was cancelled due to wildfires in the area. He is ready to go for the June 27 start at Squaw Valley in a race he never imagined doing a short time ago.

“We first heard about Western States eight years ago and we decided to try and hike the trail on a three-day trip,” Meeth said. “We hiked for two days, made it to Foresthill and said, ‘The people who run this are amazing.’ It’s a big difference now.”

Meeth said he was out of shape before he first got into running six years ago, starting with the California International Marathon in Sacramento. He was an avid mountain biker, but dreaded running.

“Every time I ran, my whole body hurt,” Meeth said. “But over time, it turned into my main hobby.”

Meeth slowly built his mileage, running Way Too Cool and the American River 50 before taking the ultimate plunge into ultrarunning in 2007.

Meeth’s wife Tanya is his training partner and main inspiration on the trail. Gordon Ainsleigh helped get the Meeths into the sport and Dan Moores at the Auburn Running Company in Auburn is a good friend. Tanya will pace her husband over the final 30 miles or so from Foresthill at Western States.

The running community in Auburn has kept Meeth motivated and excited about testing himself on the trail.

“We just went for a run tonight and we saw a bunch of people we knew,” Meeth said. “The sense of community in the running circle is really strong and just very friendly.”