FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: John Trent, WSER Media Relations, press@wser.org
PAST CHAMPIONS WALMSLEY, JORNET RETURN AS WELL AS DEFENDING WOMEN’S CHAMPION ABBY HALL FOR 53RD WSER
AUBURN, Calif. – Defending women’s champion Abby Hall as well as four-time men’s champion Jim Walmsley and 2011 champion Kilian Jornet, generally considered the greatest ultra runner of all-time, headline one of the most competitive fields ever assembled this weekend with the 53rd running of the Western States Endurance Run (WSER). Western States starts on Saturday, June 27 at 5 a.m. at Palisades Tahoe Resort, at Olympic Valley, California. The world’s oldest trail 100 miler finishes on the Placer High School track in Auburn, California.
Hall, 35, of Flagstaff, Arizona, running strong and confident throughout, won last year’s WSER in the fourth-fastest time ever, 16 hours and 37 minutes. Her competition includes 34-year-old Fuzhao Xiang of China (who ran the third-fastest time in race history in 2024 as well as well as the seventh-fastest time ever last year, 16:47, in finishing second to Hall), as well Marianne Hogan, 36, of Canada, who was third in 2025, and 2025 fifth-place women’s finisher Fiona Pascall, 36, of Great Britain. 2021 Tokyo Olympic Marathon bronze medalist Molly Seidel, 31, of Flagstaff, who gained entry through a Golden Ticket qualification earlier this year, will make her 100-mile debut this weekend.
The men’s race is just as deep. Although 2025 men’s champion Caleb Olson is not competing this year, the presence of past champions Walmsley, 36, of Flagstaff, who holds the men’s course record of 14:09 set in 2019, as well as Jornet, a 38-year-old native of Spain who lives in Norway with his family and is the most recognizable ultra runner in the world, should potentially make the men’s race one of the fastest ever held at Western States. Jornet finished third in 2025. He will be joined by several other top finishers from last year’s run, including fourth-place finisher Jeff Mogavero, 32, of Missoula, Montana, and fifth-place finisher Daniel Jones, 35, of New Zealand. 2023 champion Adam Peterman, 30, of Missoula, Montana, has rounded into sharp form with a Golden Ticket performance in April’s Canyon 100K. Francesco Puppi, 34, of Italy, a dominant performer on the trails internationally, will be making his 100-mile debut.
Adding momentum to the talk of fast races for both the women and the men are two additional factors. A relatively dry spring has meant that there is no snow on the course. And for the first time in several years, predicted high temperatures on race day are expected to only reach the low 80s – mild weather by Western States’ usual infernally hot standards.
“The HOKA Golden Ticket season (the months-long series of qualifying races where elites battle for a Western States entry) was as competitive and as fast as I can ever remember,” Race Director Craig Thornley said. “Abby Hall ran a tactically brilliant race last year and has had a great spring. And for both the women and the men, many of the top 10 are returning from last year, along with some really strong and interesting Western States newcomers joining us for the first time through the HOKA Golden Ticket series. Having past champions like Jim Walmsley, Kilian and Adam Peterman back add even more to the tradition that is Western States. These are some of the great and inspiring figures from our history. And they are going to have a definite say in what transpires this year. It’s going to be exciting to see how it all plays out.”
This year’s field of runners, who come from 28 countries as well as throughout the United States, traverses the high country of the historic Western States Trail through the Granite Chief Wilderness, then plunges into the deep canyons of the American River drainage. The runners pass through the sites of old mining settlements such as Last Chance, Deadwood and Michigan Bluff, making technical and challenging ascents and descents of more than 2,000 feet, before crossing the Middle Fork of the American River at mile 78 at the Rucky Chucky River Crossing aid station. From there, they make a final push to the finish line at Placer High.
The 2026 WSER will be streamed live on YouTube. Commentators Dylan Bowman and Corrine Malcolm will kick off the live broadcast at 4:15 a.m. on Saturday, June 27. The broadcast will continue through the entirety of the event and will conclude at 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 29. Watch it at https://www.youtube.com/WSER100.
ABOUT WESTERN STATES: First held in 1974, the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run has a 369-runner field from throughout the United States and more than 30 countries. Western States is considered one of the world’s preeminent 100-mile trail races. Its mission is to stage a transformational and quality world-class event for its runners, as well as perform trail stewardship and conduct medical research studies for the betterment of the sport. Held on the last full weekend in June starting in Olympic Valley, California, the 100.2-mile event travels through the Sierra high country and the canyons of the American River on the ancestral lands of the Washoe and Nisenan tribes, before finishing at Placer High School in Auburn, California.
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