AF1 Endurance Challenge Brings Three Sports Together for Charity

DOWNIEVILLE – Trail runners, gravel cyclists, and motorcyclists will head into the mountains November 7 for the first All For 1 Endurance Challenge, a charity event with roots in founder Justin Pfaffinger’s childhood trips to Downieville.

Known as AF1, the event gives participants a choice of separate, untimed courses through Nevada and Sierra counties. The aim is to finish a personal challenge and raise money for charity. Pfaffinger expects about 75 people to take part, with roughly 40 reaching Alleghany and Downieville.

AF1 aims to raise a combined $10,000 for Nevada County Campus Life and Mi Casa de Esperanza, a shelter for women and their children near Ensenada, Mexico. Pfaffinger has also added a $1,200 goal for Sierra Frontier Medical Resources, which supports emergency care in western Sierra County.

Pfaffinger grew up in Grass Valley. When he was about 10, his father, a Nevada City cobbler, took him mountain biking in the Sierra Buttes and Downieville, and he was hooked. He later returned to work in town, race mountain bikes, and lead young people on multiday trips in the Buttes.

Pfaffinger had hoped to get AF1 going five or six years ago, but the pandemic put it on hold. Work on another cycling event, along with a career and raising children, kept it on the back burner. In July, he and his wife decided it was time to give it a go.

“We are not big and flashy, rather we want to be down-to-earth good wholesome fun that brings a little extra cash into the community by promoting local business,” Pfaffinger wrote.

Pfaffinger first got involved with Nevada County Campus Life, a Christian youth program, as a teenager, and his interest in supporting its activities has grown as his own children have become teenagers. The program takes children on inexpensive camping and backpacking trips and brings more than 50 young people together each week.

Campus Life’s leaders would also like to take children on service trips, particularly abroad, but the cost often puts those trips out of reach. Pfaffinger and his wife want AF1 to help make those trips possible.

In 2024, the family visited Mi Casa de Esperanza. Women and their children stay at the shelter for two years, receiving food, housing, counseling, and education. At the end of the program, each woman receives a small plot of land and a home in her own name. The shelter’s work was one of the main reasons Pfaffinger wanted to create AF1.

AF1 offers three course choices in each sport. Runners can choose a 13.1-mile half marathon, a 50-kilometer run, or a 50-mile run. Gravel cyclists have 28-, 62-, and 85-mile options, while motorcyclists can choose routes of 47, 85, or 132 miles.

Trail runners will follow routes along the Highway 20 corridor above Nevada City, while the longest gravel and motorcycle outings extend toward Downieville. Participants handle their own supplies and navigation.

Registration is free, and each participant receives a PledgeReg fundraising page to share with potential donors. BikeReg has registration, course maps, and volunteer sign-ups.

Pfaffinger could still use some help in Sierra County, especially around Alleghany and Forest. He’s looking for volunteers with and without medical training. Amber and Pete Sainsbury will be the local contacts in Downieville.

Five motorcyclists will sweep the narrow trails above Downieville, following participants along the course. More help is needed on the roads: volunteers could head up Galloway Road or Mountain House Road toward Forest to find and pick up riders taking longer than expected between checkpoints.

Several checkpoints and aid stations will have Starlink connections so volunteers can check athletes in and out and help organizers keep track of their progress through the backcountry.

Other volunteer jobs include helping at aid stations, course junctions, registration, and gear drops. On BikeReg, general volunteers can select AF1Ambassador, and those with medical training can choose AF1MedSupport. To help locally or ask about a job, email AF1endurance@gmail.com.