Western States 100 Endurance Run 2024

Strava

My incredible hosts in San Carlos had clearly planned years ahead of my arrival by having a blazing hot series of trails at the top of their road – therefore within an hour or so of landing on the Sunday before the race I was hitting a big climb in the mid afternoon heat – and getting completely freaked out by all the lizards scurrying around thinking they were all snakes. The perfect start to the week leading in – lots of rest and burritos.

Got to the beautiful hamlet of Alpine Meadows on Wednesday – just a short drive from the Western states start line. It sits at 2,000 metres and the altitude change was immediately apparent when carrying the suitcase up the stairs to the accom. You suddenly feel so unfit! Found an amazing trail – nearly landed right on a little snake (a real one this time!) up around 2,300 metres. Beautiful trail – and a teaser for what the alpine section of the race would be. ( if curious, my VO2 MAX dropped by 5 points over 48 hours just with the elevation change.)

Got back to digs with the news that my pacer for the final 60kms of the race had been diagnosed with a major illness just that day – cannot travel let alone run (update: he is OK and will pull through because he’s champ). It’s Wednesday evening and I’ve just lost my pacer (who was also going to help crew early on and had a car) – yikes!

The race has an online portal to help you find a pacer. After a quick search to find someone who matched my projected finish time and had a bit of experience I came across Canadian athlete Claire Heslop and hit the ‘request’ button – and hoped for the best! It’s a big ask to find someone who is happy to run 60km at two days notice but sure enough, the next morning Claire gets in touch and is totally on board. Stoked!

A little shake out run with other runners on Thursday morning was really cool – amazing too see how many people had travelled a long way to the race just to be a part of the weekend – no affiliation with any runner. Don’t see that much back in NZ!

Friday check in – OFF THE HOOK – you get so much stuff at registration it’s ridiculous – backpack, HOKA slides, socks, a buff, gel bottle, magazines – other stuff I can’t remember. The whole village is packed with so many excited people. I popped into the UD tent to ask about new bungie cords for my vest – the bottle holders had broken after several milers – and the fella there was very apologetic and said he didn’t – but also added ‘hey you’re running tomorrow aye? Here, just have a new pack mate and all the best’. Amazing – 5 stars for UD!

Met up with some mates – the two Urbanski brothers – I have, through good fortune more than talent, beaten both off them in races before – Matt is running Western this year with Jeff pacing him. He said he’d go for 17 hours so I said ‘cool man, see you at prizegiving!’ My hoped-for goal was 21 to 23 hours. My new pacer Claire had driven me to rego and hung around for the briefing – already proving to be a totally awesome part of the team.

Now. THE RACE!

Part 01 – The High Country – 0km to 50km

I started near the back of the field – forcing me to go easy on the first major climb. The escarpment is a long steep climb and to be honest, you’re walking most of it. The views are epic, the crowd at the top is amazing – hundreds of people (they have woken up in the cold small hours to be at the top in time for the first runners)

Into the alpine section – there is very little snow this year – last year there was 22 miles of snow – we had about ten metres in total! What this did mean though was dust – so much dust! I got caught in the back of a few trains and I could barely see the ground. In an attempt to get some clear air I tried to pass a group of people – this put me slightly off to the side of the main trail and of course my foot found the only root sticking out of the ground and I took a full stack into the dirt – luckily, after attempting to dust myself off, realised the damage was minor (although the humiliation was strong – stacking mid-overtake is never cool!)

I started using ice as early as possible. I had an ice bandana from T8 and it worked miracles – used from 16 miles all the way to 90 miles. Melt times varied throughout the day – at canyon two it would only last about ten minutes. Scorching.

The first 50k of the course is, for the most part, all above 2,000 metres. It is technical and has two huge climbs in it (the second was surprisingly long). I was really surprised by how much of a challenge it was – certainly not as easy as some of the top times would suggest. I was holding back on pace hugely as well – mostly out of fear of screwing up this potentially once-in-a-lifetime race. I came into Robinson flat – the 50k aid station – exactly on plan – 6 hours and 30 minutes – but I had worked much harder than I thought I would have to – it’s no joke!

Part 02 – The Canyons – 50km to 100km

The first section out of Robinson is awesome – a short climb and then a really long 4wd packed gravel road where you can get some good pace on as it’s downhill but only slightly. Feel good through Millars Defeat, Dusty Corners, Last Chance and then into the canyons proper. This started to suck a bit for me – descent #1 was ok but the climb out I suddenly had nothing in the tank – and the heat was cranking. When I finally arrived at Devil’s Thumb (just under halfway through) I was worked and needed a moment. The good thing about running a race this important, is that when you start to feel a bit low you catch yourself with the line ‘bro, you’re running western states, get over yourself’ – worked every time!

The drop into canyon #2 takes about 7 years. Well, it felt like it. Full sun, no wind and no shade as all the tress were burnt out from previous fires. My left quad started to complain here as well – so I pulled back pace as I now know that once your quad stops firing you’re toast! At El Dorado Creek came sweet relief in the form of ice, ice and more ice. This is also where I broke the golden rule of don’t try anything new on race day. I had been given a Precision Endurance caffeine gel – in case of emergencies – by my pacer the day before and I decided after the last very-low two hours that now was ok to roll the dice – and I’m so glad I did. I half ran up the climb to Michigan Bluff and really felt a million bucks on the fast roll down into the 100k aid station at Foresthill at about 13:15.

Part 03 – The ‘runnable’ part – 100km to 161km

Foresthill is such a buzz. I met my amazing hosts here (Brent and Wendy – who is my wife’s cousin) and they had the chair, gear and cheer all set up for me. My first time to sit down for a minute – was nice! Since this was going to be my only crew point I took a bit longer here just to enjoy the company and the moment. Before long, it’s pacer time! Claire was ready to go and off we went. This first section out of the town was super fast and I felt great. There are few aid stations perched in precarious parts of the trail for more ice and fill ups, and with good banter the miles ticked over well. Until about 120k when my stomach started to complain a little. Not much, just when I ran for too long I’d feel a wave of nausea hit me. A little frustrating as I was still moving well, but had to take dozens of little walk breaks every few hundred metres as each wave hit.

The Rucky Chucky river crossing was a massive highlight. It comes at 125km on the trail so you’re pretty worked by then. But it’s epic! You cross holding onto a rope and there are volunteers standing in the (bloody cold) water every few metres to make sure you don’t head off downstream. They were so chipper! Positivity all round. It’s actually quite deep in parts and in the dark it’s kinda tricky but you feel so good afterwards. I did a shirt, shoe and sock change on the other side as there were drops bags there and I had developed two fairly big blisters on both my heels (that’s a new one for me – no idea why!) So Claire patched me up (did I mention she’s an ER nurse? Talk about lucky me) and off up to Green Gate we headed.

The run-walk continued until the end – the nausea never really went away. Fatigue was also setting in so I’m not going to blame my slower pace entirely on the stomach! Claire was fundamental in helping troubleshoot and stay positive – and some form of an answer came from a most unexpected place – at mile 90 is the Quarry Rd aid station – and who should be there but seven times states winner Scott Jurek – dressed as one of the three wisemen I think – with 2 times champ sidekick Hal Koerner also dressed up. From one tree hugging vegan to another we ascertained that the broth was good to go so I made sure I had a cup full at each stop from then on. Helped a lot and got salts back in. No I didn’t get the ultimate selfie – sorry!

Big climb from here including a vital left hand turn that Jim Walmsley infamously missed one year – I can see why – a couple of crucial turn offs have surprisingly small signage. Probably the only negative thing I could say about the entire event!

Crossing no hands bridge was eerie – in my mind from watching it online all these years I thought this was a busy aid station – but it was just a deserted, slightly overgrown crossing with flags from all countries flying on both sides, which, in the middle of the night, felt almost post-apocalyptic. NZ flag was first which was cool.

Another big final climb, ran straight through Robie Point and even ran up the final steep hill before finally rounding a corner and seeing the dreamy lights of the track up ahead. Those final 300 metres are surreal – you are floating – and it’s such a buzz to finish. Then, would you believe, sitting on a chair in front of me is Matt Urbanski ‘what took you so long mate I’ve been here for 2 minutes waiting for you?’ TWO MINUTES! I hadn’t seen him all day and in the end he was only just ahead of me – wish I had known! So I guess we’re even now. We’ll need a rematch sometime!

After saying a huge thank you and goodbye to the incredible Claire (she just placed top ten at Hardrock so I’m claiming I helped with this training run of ours) I stayed at the track all morning – I finished just before 4am in 22:51 – just inside my goal time but most importantly under 24 hours for the coveted silver buckle. I didn’t have accom so found food and a chair and just clapped everyone else coming in (as well as falling asleep a few times!). This was cool and I’m glad I did this – really allows time to enjoy the moment. Excitement builds as we got closer to the golden hour of 29 to 30 hours (this is the final cutoff – it’s a tough line in the sand that they’ve made). An assisted blind runner missed the cutoff by only 30 seconds. Gutted! So many people there.

It’s now insanely hot and prize giving is under a tent that feels like a sauna – temps close to 40 degrees. As soon as I got my buckle I exited stage left and we jumped in the car and headed back to San Fran.

After all the nerves, the race and entire trip was a huge success and even a few weeks later the stoke is still high. Maybe I’ll enter that lottery again…. After all, I have one ticket now…..

Thank you Brent, Wendy and Claire – you are all legends and a huge part of what made this a success.

Fuel:

Bag of Pure race fuel

Half bag of naked tailwind

One nut bar

Two precision gels

Vege broth

A little watermelon and oranges but not much

Gear:

UD 6.0 mountain pack

Topo Ultraventure 3.0 shoes x 2 (Change at 130km after river) – perfect shoe choice for the race

Buff air sleeves for ice