Dr. Julie Widdison lives in Salt Lake City, Utah where she works for the University of Utah practicing Emergency Medicine. She attended medical school at the University of Utah and completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at Stanford University.
The Namib Race 2026 is Dr. Julie's 14th race working on the medical team. She was previously on the medical team at the Atacama Crossing (2014, medical director-2018), Gobi March China (2015, medical director-2017), Gobi Race Mongolia 2018, Sahara Race Namibia (2016, medical director-2019), and roving races in Patagonia 2017, New Zealand 2019, Georgia 2021, the Last Desert (Antarctica) 2022, the RacingThePlanet: 20-Year Race (Jordan) and
RacingThePlanet: Greece 2025.
Her husband Adam decided to join the medical team after completing the Sahara Race (Namibia) as a competitor in 2016. Besides trying to keep up with her husband on the trails around the Wasatch Mountains, Dr. Julie enjoys skiing, mountain biking, road trips, and hanging out with their dogs Arlo and Louie.
Adam STILES, M.D.
Emergency Physician
United States
Dr. Adam Stiles is an Emergency Medicine Physician currently living and working in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended the University of Utah School of Medicine and completed an Emergency Medicine Residency program at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Since finishing residency, Adam has continued to work in Emergency Departments while living in California and Utah over the past 10 years.
The Namib Race 2026 is Dr. Adam's 10th race as a medical team member and he has also completed two races as competitor.
His first exposure to RacingThePlanet was through his wife, Dr. Julie, who has been a medical team member on several past 4 Deserts races. In 2016 Adam competed in the Sahara Race (Namibia) and in his words "I managed to, somehow, cross the finish line". He returned to a number of races on the medical team: Gobi March (China) 2017, the Atacama Crossing 2018, Namib Race 2019, roving races in Patagonia 2018, New Zealand 2019 and Georgia 2021, The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2022, the RacingThePlanet: The 20-Year Race (Jordan) and Greece 2025. He also completed the Atacama Crossing 2025 as a competitor on Team Chelacabur with friends Hernan, Ash and Judy who he met through the races.
In his free time Adam enjoys mountain biking, running with his wife and hanging with their dogs Arlo and Louie.
Allison FRIEDENBERG, M.D.
Pulmonary and critical care physician
United States
Dr. Allison Friedenberg, M.D. is pulmonary and critical care physician at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in San Francisco but is originally from the mid-west. She graduated from medical school at the University of Wisconsin and completed her residency and Brown Fellowship in pulmonary and critical care at New York University. Dr. Allison is passionate about travel and outdoor exploration and has travelled extensively to many remote areas in the world including backpacking on the Isla de Navarino (the southern most trail in the world). She has been to 62 of the 63 National Parks in the United States and is always planning the next trip to the world's most beautiful places, preferably by hiking, backpacking, or biking as a means to explore. The Namib Race 2026 is her second time on the medical team at a RacingThePlanet / 4 Deserts Ultramarathon. She was previously on the medical team at the Atacama Crossing 2025.
Amy OLIN, M.D.
Emergency Medicine Physician
United States
Dr. Amy Olin is an Emergency Medicine Physician from California in the United States. She completed an undergraduate degree at UC San Diego in Animal Physiology & Neuroscience with a minor in Psychology, qualified in medicine at David Geffen School of Medicine UCLA and completed her residency at Stanford in Emergency Medicine. She caught the adventure bug in 2009 moving abroad to practice practice emergency medicine in Australia, New Zealand, India, Honduras, and Fiji before settling back in the United States in San Luis Obispo for sixteen years. In her free time you will find Dr. Amy on the trails, whether it be running or backpacking. She has not yet dared to attempt a RacingThePlanet event, but has completed 26 marathons (one a year for 26 years), 7 Ironmans (including the world champs in 2013), and numerous other adventurous races on foot. Her most recent epic adventure was hiking the John Muir Trail with her husband (19 days of utter bliss). The Namib Race 2026 is Dr. Amy's first time at RacingThePlanet / 4 Deserts Ultramarathon, but hope it won't be her last. Her endless energy, positivity and love of doing hard things and pushing her body to its limit makes her a perfect fit for the medical team.
Privacy policy and cookies:
By browsing this website you accept cookies used to improve and personalise our services and marketing, and for social activity. Read our Privacy Policy for more about what we do with your data, as well as your rights and choices – including how to manage cookies.
Signup For Newsletter
Form Submited Successfully
Thank you for registering for the RacingThePlanet newsletter.
Newsletter
Online Store
Login
