One of my favourite trail running events for the year is on this weekend. It is the famous Western States 100 ultra marathon. It is trail running equivalent to the Tour de France for Cycling, Wimbledon for Tennis; it is a biggest event for trail runners each year!
This prestigious event, The Western States 100 (officially named The Western States Endurance Run) is the world’s oldest and prominent 100 mile trail race. It was first completed in 1974 by Gordy Ainsleigh, Gordy had completed the Western States Trail Ride in 1971 and 1972 on horseback, but in 1973 his horse pulled up lame during the event. In 1974, Ainsleigh joined the horses to see if he could complete the event on foot. Some 23h 42m later Gordy arrived at the finish line, confirming a runner could actually, travel 100 miles in one day.
In 1977, 16 runners signed up for the first official Western States Endurance Run in 1977 with only 3 runners finishing.
The event starts in Squaw Valley, California and ends 100.2 miles later in Auburn, California.
It is considered to be one of the greatest endurance tests in the world with runners going along the historic Western States Trail and climbing over 5500 metres and descending over 7000 metres prior to arriving at the finish line in Auburn. During the event, runners will encounter the imposing high country splendour of Emigrant Pass and the Granite Chief Wilderness, the California gold country canyons, the infamous crossing of the chilly waters of the American River and in the final stages, the picturesque reddish-brown-coloured trails leading into Auburn.
Each year the race is limited to 369 runners, with a lottery system selecting the majority of the entrants along with selected winners from the Montrail Ultra Cup and Ultra-Trail World Tour and top 10 finishers from the previous year’s event.
The runners are chasing the ultimate and highly sort after prize - a belt buckle! The bronze belt buckle is on offer for a sub-30 hour finish or a silver belt buckle for a sub-24 finisher.
The Western States 100 is a compelling event and this year appears to be no exception with the Men’s field offering no previous winners (except Gordy Ainsleigh) Australia’s best chance looks like to be Brendan Davies (he finished third in the recent The North Face 100k in the Blue Mountains), while in the women’s event everyone will be challenging last year’s winner, Pam Smith for the title, with a strong field in both races it looks to be another exciting race.
If you would like find out a bit more about the race, I recommend watching the documentary ‘Unbreakable: The Western States 100' which follows the four lead men in the 2010 event.