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LEGEND OF MILO OF CROTON

“As a farmboy in ancient Greece, wrestling champion Milo of Croton would daily lift and carry a calf from its birth. As the boy grew, so did the calf, until as an adult Milo was lifting and carrying a bull on his shoulders.”

We feel this legend underlines what our training philosophy is about. We want to create a community where everyone is pushed, challenged and supported on their own personal fitness journey, hitting their goals one step at a time!

PROGRAMMING, COACHING, COMMUNITY

FACILITATING YOUR PERSONAL FITNESS JOURNEY

Whether you want to compete, lose those pesky pounds, get off medications, wear down the grandkids or just plain look good naked, our all-inclusive, community-based, functional-fitness regimen is the most effective lifestyle transformation to get you to your goals.

ENERGY, POSITIVITY, PROFESSIONALISM

KARE WILLIAMS

Owner / Manager / Programmer / Head Coach

Kare has been an avid Athlete for most of her adult life. She began her athletic career at The University of Washington, where she rowed with the Varsity Crew team and earned her BA. She spent the next 21 years working in Emergency Medicine as a ground and flight paramedic.

In 2008, Kare began training, competing in and coaching CrossFit. She was a part-time coach at CrossFit Northwest Tucson for six years, coaching CrossFit Kids, rowing clinics, and adult classes. She is an Iron Athlete Rowing Instructor and has won multiple national and international CrossFit and Rowing Competitions.

In 2014, Kare left EMS and began working full time as a CrossFit coach, developing the Competitive program for CrossFit Northwest Tucson in addition to assuming head coach and Manager responsibilities at CrossFit Purgatory.

In 2016, her dreams of running her own gym were realized when she and her husband started a new life adventure by creating CrossFit Milo which became Milo Fitness Factory in 2020.

Kare’s coaching certifications include:

  • CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
  • CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
  • CrossFit Rowing
  • CrossFit Strongman Coach
  • Iron Athlete Olympic Lifting Coach

ALAN WILLIAMS

Owner / Manager / Lead Coach

After 24 years serving the community in Fire/EMS, Alan decided it was time to hang up the helmet and retire from a Tucson area fire department as a Captain/Paramedic and Union President.

Since 2010, he has been and avid Crossfitter himself and involved in the CrossFit community by supporting his wife, Kare, in her adventures as a CrossFit Masters Competitor. It seemed only natural that they open their own CrossFit affiliate and, in 2016, he and Kare decided to focus all their resources and energy to create the CrossFit gym they had always wanted.

In addition to coaching, Alan programs and supervises the Fire Factory classes where participants take the strength and speed skills they  develop in Crossfit and apply them to task based/team activities using firefighter equipment and modeled after fire academy physical training.

Alan is also a well known, Tucson based filmmaker and his retirement from the fire department affords him the time to balance his passion as a writer/director with his Milo Fitness Factory enterprise.

  • CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
  • CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
  • Iron Athlete Olympic Lifting Coach
  • USAW Level 1 Coach

EM BOWEN

Coach

Em’s movement journey began early on through watching their group fitness instructor mother and Ironman triathlete father thrive in the world of fitness. They ran cross-country and track in their teen years before playing rugby for the University of Arizona and other competitive rugby teams all over the west coast for over a decade. In their final years playing rugby, they coached the Tucson Lightning Rugby team in fitness, specifically with a focus on injury prevention, mobility, speed, and endurance.

After being a member for 3 years at Milo Fitness Factory (formerly CrossFit Milo), Em decided to earn their ACE personal training certificate in the hopes of helping their community feel better in gym spaces that have given so much to them. Now, as a personal trainer and coach, they are excited to work with folks who find stereotypical fitness lingo and culture to be exclusive or limiting.

Their movement journey has always been centered around moving better, building resilience, and cultivating mindfulness and continues to be so.

(they/them or he/his pronouns, please.)

  • ACE Personal Trainer
  • CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
  • CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
  • USAW Level 1 Coach
  • Precision Nutrition Coach

Mike Gamez

Coach

Mike is currently a police officer and has been serving the Tucson community since 2006. As an athlete for the majority of his life, Mike has always made fitness a priority. Mike played college baseball at Southern Arkansas University located in Magnolia, AR. Mike started doing CrossFit in 2010 and is also a certified subject matter expert with AZPOST for physical training. Mike has actively been coaching group fitness classes since 2014 when he was assigned as the basic training class officer. This assignment is the equivalent of a drill instructor in the military. Mike enjoys working with new athletes that are striving to take control of their overall health. Mike is married to Danielle Gamez and they have two young children, Olivia and Henry. Mike enjoys listening to music, gardening and spending time with his family.

  • Crossfit Level 1 Trainer
  • Crossfit Level 2 Trainer
  • ACE Personal Trainer

Austin Cruz

Coach

We keep asking Austin to give us a bio but he never gets around to it, so, we are making one up until he does.

Austin was born to a nomadic family of sheepherders who traveled the Tibetan side of the Himalayas pandering their services as mountain guides to European tourists. As a small boy, Austin’s parents accepted an offer from a Spanish couple to purchase him for the equivalent of $87 whereby they took him to Madrid and raised him as their own teaching him the art of bullfighting as his adoptive father was a Matador.

Protesting the brutality against the animals, Austin would run away from home at the age of 16 where he joined a troupe of Portuguese merchant marines and spent the next 4 years traveling the Atlantic Ocean.

In a tragic turn of events, Austin would be the lone survivor rescued from the waters of the Bermuda Triangle when the freighter he was on capsized and then mysteriously disappeared. The US Coast Guard turn him over the Immigration officials where he was then sent to live in Tucson, Arizona awaiting deportation.

It was at that time that Austin wandered into Milo Fitness Factory desperate to find a place to call home. The Milo community took him in and became the family he never had.

In an agreement with Immigration authorities, Milo Fitness Factory agreed to employ Austin so that he could qualify for a work visa and avoid deportation.

In an unlikely twist of fate, Brittany Spears, who dropped in for a workout while vacationing at here in Tucson at Miraval, took pity upon Austin when she heard his story and petitioned Immigration authorities to have her assume legal guardian status.

  • CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
  • USAW Level 1 Coach

 

McKenzie Bieg

Coach

McKenzie came to Milo in August of 2020 to find a welcoming community and the beginnings of a passion for CrossFit. Coming from 14 years of competitive gymnastics and 6 years of gymnastics coaching, she quickly found that her experience in the gymnastics arena put her in the perfect position to transition her career to Milo Fitness Factory. During her time at Gymnastics World Central, she coached recreational gymnastics, girls’ team levels 1-4, and the TOPs junior elite program, focusing on developing strong technique in basic skills for long-term safety and success in the sport.

In addition to her life in the fitness world, she is currently working towards a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona, where she is also employed as an EMT for UAEMS and as a researcher in a bioimaging lab. However, her most important endeavor outside Milo is spending ridiculous amounts of time and money spoiling her dog, Bruno.

  • CrossFit Level 1 Trainer

 

Race Williams

Coach

Bio is coming soon! But, let’s just say the owners are pretty proud parents!!!

  • CrossFit Level 1 Trainer

 

Courtney Perrier Bear

Nutrition Coach

Courtney Perrier Bear is the owner of BearPAL Nutrition. She has been CrossFitting since 2009 and holds her Level 1, Olympic Weightlifting, and Gymnastics certifications. Her nutrition coaching revolves around flexible dieting with a focus on performance, aesthetics and longevity optimization. She has her NCI Level 1, Precision Nutrition Level 1, NCI Hormone, NCI Mindset, NCI Gut Health certifications. She is currently completing the practicum for her NCI Level 2 and beginning a 12-week mentorship on nutritional hormone optimization.

 

Courtney has 29 years’ experience in emergency response and management, firefighting/emergency medical, hazardous materials and waste management, safety, and environmental management in both private industry and government positions. She holds a BS in Industrial Technology/Hazardous Waste and Materials and a MS in Environmental Technology with an emphasis in Emergency Management.

 

Courtney is married to Larry Bear a Northwest Fire District Engineer/EMT/Wildland Firefighter.  They live in Vail, AZ with their son, Bohdan and daughter, Darrian. The entire family are Miloans. Her hobbies include landscape design, welding, camping, and fly fishing.