Due to conflicts with other run events we’re changing the May trail work date to June 1, 8:00 am at Stone’s Brew Coffee House in Foresthill. Please sign up on the WS site if you plan on attending and remember to submit your USFS Volunteer Form.
Thanks,
Donn Zea
WS Trail Boss
The 1983 Western States race still boasts the closest top two men’s finish in the 39 year history of the race. Arguably, it is one of the best races ever at WS, and lucky for us it was recorded on DVD on Desperate Dreams II.
1983 Desperate Dreams DVD
1983 was a huge snow year so the alternate snow course had to be used for the first time. Returning champion Jim King hammered through the snow early to open up a huge lead over the field at Red Star Ridge, including 36 minutes over 1981 co-champion Jim Howard. But by Duncan Canyon aid station, King had fallen back to 15th after getting lost for 45 minutes in the snow. Undaunted, King moved back up the field to join Howard again at Dusty Corners and Last Chance (in 3rd and 4th place). King then hammered the canyons, and arrived in Michigan Bluff in first place, 27 minutes ahead of Howard who was still in 4th. King’s split from Last Chance to Michigan Bluff was 2:13! For comparison, Jurek’s split on his CR run in 2004 was 2:19.
King’s lead over Howard remained around 30 minutes through ALT by which time Howard was now comfortably in 2nd place. But Howard was not running for 2nd place. Only 7 minutes behind at Hwy 49, Howard threw down the unbelievable split of 56 minutes to the finish, catching King right before the white bridge and finishing 30 seconds ahead of King. This is still the fastest split ever run for that section. 5-time champion, and 25-time finisher, Tim Twietmeyer says that even if we dropped him off at Hwy 49 fresh, he couldn’t run 56 minutes.
Jim Howard at the finish of the 1983 WSER.
We are going to show the 1983 race on Sunday evening of the Memorial Day Weekend Training Runs. We’ll follow that with a discussion with the two Jims, facilitated by 8-time finisher Andy Jones-Wilkins.
The research studies for the 2013 WSER have just been determined and are now posted on the research page.
Six studies will be taking place that will examine a variety of issues including a couple areas receiving considerable recent media attention – potential cardiac damage from high volume exercise, and potential benefits of different foot strike patterns. To learn more about the first issue, our colleagues from the United Kingdom will be returning to the Run after completing studies here in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Regarding the later, we will expand upon our foot strike analysis at the 2012 WSER, where we saw indication that those who used a forefoot or midfoot pattern had higher blood creatine phosphokinase concentrations at the end of the race compared with heel strikers. Other studies will further examine the extent and causes of gastrointestinal distress during the Run, the frequency and underlying cause of vision cloudiness that sometimes occurs during ultramarathons, and types and frequency of injuries in those training for a 100-mile run.
There will be more to come on how you can participate in the various studies and contribute to our advancement of science.
Marty Hoffman, MD
Trail Volunteers are Essential! Volunteering on the trail is rewarding and fun. And, for those who are entered in the 2013 WSER and are within driving distance of the WS Trail, our scheduled work projects are the perfect way to satisfy the Run’s volunteer service requirement!
The 2013 trail work days have been set.
February 2, 2013 – Green Gate to Hwy 49
March 23, 2013 – El Dorado/Volcano Canyons
April 20, 2013
May 18, 2013 Moved to June 1, 2013.
June 21-22, 2013
At the first project on Feb 2 we’ll improve trail tread, trim vegetation, remove fallen trees, and ensure adequate drainage on the Green Gate to 49 Crossing section of the trail. See our 2013 Trail Work Opportunities page to sign up and to get further details.
For further information about our trail conservation mission and purpose please see our new Trail Stewardship page.
The Robinson Flat campout weekend.
Thanks for helping
Updated 12/5
As posted on the lottery applicant page, we have 2295 total lottery applicants for the 2013 race.
122 applicants with four tickets = 488 tickets
207 applicants with three tickets = 621 tickets
480 applicants with two tickets = 960 tickets
1486 applicants with one ticket = 1486 tickets
Total tickets in the hat = 3555
Here is the list of tickets (178 page pdf)
We are going to draw 270 unique names in the lottery and then an additional five from the lottery within the lottery. That is, the folks in the audience who have not been selected up to that point. Based on 3555 total tickets and 270 names drawn, the odds of getting selected have been updated as follows:
one ticket odds = 7.9%
two ticket odds = 15.2%
three ticket odds = 21.9%
four ticket odds = 28.0%
We used a Monte Carlo simulation to calculate these updated odds.
The lottery will take place at the Placer HS auditorium. We will begin introductions a little before 9am and start drawing names right at 9am. We expect to be done by 11am. Note that there is no food or drink allowed in the auditorium (water ok).
As names are pulled from the hat, they will be posted at ultralive.net as close to real-time as possible. There will also be a live video feed.
For a little historical perspective, here are the number of lottery applicants and ticket counts in the lottery since 2000.
2000 583
2001 556
2002 529
2003 638
2004 740
2005 791
2006 841
2007 1,048
2008 1,350 Fire year
2009 337 out of 390 returned 54 two-time losers, 34 autos for a total of 425 entrants
2010 1,693 Last year for two-time losers
2011 1,786 First year for multi-tickets in the hat. One ticket: 1286, two tickets: 500
2012 1,940 One ticket: 1221, two tickets: 461, three tickets: 258
2013 2295 One ticket: 1486, two tickets: 480, three tickets: 207, four tickets: 122
If you’re reading this, you noticed that we have a new website. It’s been a process that began about six months ago. We hope you find it easy to navigate and filled with useful and interesting content. One of the challenging issues web designers face today is the wide variety of devices used to view websites. This site has been designed to be viewed on a variety of browsers so don’t be surprised if it looks different on your phone, tablet, and desktop browser.
The team involved in making this a reality is from all over the US. I am humbled to have such incredibly talented and dedicated people working with me to bring this new website from a concept that began when I interviewed for the RD position last January to a reality today.
Retiring race director Greg Soderlund, the WSER board, and Research Advisor Marty Hoffman also contributed to the new site. In the very near future you’ll see contributions from Ten-Day buckle holder and owner of realendurance.com Gary Wang. Photographer Luis Escobar contributed many photos.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the cadre of friends who reviewed the site. Thanks to each of you.
Now for a little of the technical details if you are interested:
We will continue to develop and add content. If you have ideas or suggestions on what we can do better please let us know.
The Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run Board of Trustees has added three new members.
The three new board members are Tia Bodington, Diana Fitzpatrick, and Karl Hoagland.
“Our three new board members give us strength in a number of key areas,” said John Trent, president of the Western States Board of Trustees. “All three are well-known and well-respected members of the ultra community. Most importantly from the perspective of our Board, all three new members have demonstrated a long term dedication to the sport and to Western States.
“We’re excited to welcome Tia, Diana and Karl to our board.”
Bodington, of Talent, Ore., is managing editor of UltraRunning Magazine, considered by many to be the sport of ultramarathoning’s most influential publication. Bodington is also race director of the Miwok 100K in the Marin Headlands, which annually draws one of the most competitive and diverse 100K trail fields in the country.
Fitzpatrick, of Larkspur, Calif., is an attorney and one of the country’s finest age-group competitors, as well as a race director. Fitzpatrick and her husband, Tim, have served as race directors for the Headlands 50K for several years. Fitzpatrick has held the 50 to 59 age group record at Western States and is a qualifier for the U.S. Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials.
Hoagland, of Fairfax, Calif., is a businessman with a background in finance. He is founder of Larkspur Hotels, which acquired, developed and managed more than two dozen hotels in northern California and Pacific Northwest. Hoagland is also an accomplished ultra runner, having finished Western States five times, including a best of 18:15.
With the addition of Bodington, Fitzpatrick, and Hoagland, the Western States Board of Trustees now has 13 members.
The 2013 Western States 100 will be held on June 29.
by John Blue
Originally published in UltraRunning magazine. Reprinted with permission.
You’ve got a few hours to kill so you find your way to a favorite trail. You lace up your shoes, grab a water bottle, and disappear down the single track. Fir needles and dirt crunch under your feet as the troubles you took home from work slip your mind. You relax into the run and your breaths come easier.
Then you round a bend and see something crumpled on the ground next to the trail: the spent wrapper of an energy gel. Instinctively, you touch the pocket in your shorts and feel for the gels you’ve packed along for the run. You no longer feel so much a part of nature as you feel a part of a dysfunctional family.
Trash found after a WS training run. Photo by Gary Wang
You shake your head and think bad thoughts about the idiot who left his trash on the trail. Your stride slips a little as you think, for a split second, of stopping and putting the wrapper in your pocket.
But you don’t want to stop right then and, besides, you don’t have any place to put someone else’s sticky gel packet. So you run past the litter and continue on down the trail, lost in your quiet thoughts.
This seems to be happening more and more frequently as more and more runners hit the trails. “The sport grew nine percent last year so lotsof new runners are moving from the roads to the trails, I suspect.” says Greg Soderlund, longtime race director of the Western States Endurance Run. “Littering isn’t acceptable in either venue but the new trail runners may not have the same respect and appreciation of the trails as the veterans do.”
Earlier this spring, a friend and I were running along the American River Parkway, after a popular, local road race had taken place. In a two-mile stretch, we saw a hundred or so gel packets lying on the ground.
As soon as I finished the run, I shot an email to the race director, who assured me they had a clean-up crew scheduled for the next day.
The following day, I noticed a significant improvement but there was still an unacceptable amount of litter along the trail. When I reached my turnaround point, I picked up a discarded plastic grocery bag and collected a couple dozen GU, Clif Shot, Hammer Gel, and Power Gel wrappers over a one-mile stretch.
You may not be surprised to learn I was feeling pretty critical of my fellow runners by the time I dropped the grocery sack full of trash into the garbage can. “But these are road runners,” I thought, “My trail running buddies are different, more respectful.”
The following Sunday, I went for a solo run from the Auburn Dam Overlook, down the American River Trail. It was a damp spring morning, and there had been a large number of runners on the trail the day before. The trail was showing signs of wear and tear from all those aggressive trail shoes and the weekend’s rain.
What surprised and disappointed me was the amount of litter on the trail.
I’m sure the folks dropping things on the Parkway were thinking, “It’s a race. The race volunteers will clean up after me.” But the people on the trail that weekend were just on a training run.
I have to admit, I’ve dropped things on the trail. We all have. You get back to your car and discover the zipper on your pack is open and a half dozen gel packs have gone missing. For this reason alone, we should all be willing to pick up the litter we see falling out of the pack of the person in front of us.
Sometimes, I’ll pick up a few pieces of trash and then get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of it, often making a mental note to bring a trash bag on my next run. If everyone was willing to pick up just one dropped gel packet or bar wrapper, that would be enough. But because most of us aren’t willing to pick up even one piece of trash, it accumulates. And that accumulation of trash, beyond the simple aesthetics of it, is where the risks lie.
‘Trail runners should understand that running on State Park trails is a privilege and we all need to pitch in and take responsibility and clean up after ourselves,” says Julie Fingar, American River 50 Mile Endurance Run RD. “Everyone, novice or veteran can benefit from hearing the message, ‘Pack it in, pack it out.”‘
If we truly love this sport and want to have continued access to these beautiful trails we run on, we need to take care of them. Not everyone who spends time in these woods is happy to see our trail races take place there. There are other user groups (horseback riders, hikers, bird watchers, hunters, environmental extremists) who aren’t particularly thrilled to see us racing through these wilderness areas. Most trail race directors will tell you that there are people actively working to stop their event from even taking place. It is critical to our sport that you do not provide them with more reasons to protest these events.
There are rules. They are simple rules and there are few of them.
As Fingar said: Pack it in, pack it out. If you drop something, stop and pick it up. Be responsible for your group. If you see that the runner in front of you has dropped something, tell them — or just pick it up yourself.
Save it for the trash can: If you are in a race,and in an aid station, you should try to put your garbage in a trash receptacle. (If you try and miss, don’t worry about it. The volunteers will cheerfully pick it up for you.) If you aren’t in an aid station, put the wrapper back in your pocket and throw it away when you get to one.
Finally, I would like us all to try an experiment. The next time you are on a run, make it a point to pick up the first empty gel packet or bar wrapper you see on the ground and put it in the trash. (Just one thing!)
We all occasionally drop something. If each of us makes it a point to pick one thing up during every run — the odds are good the most we’ll ever see is that one thing.
If this becomes the new normal, someday soon you could slip out onto that trail and shake off the dark and dreary concerns of daily living and see nothing but the trail as you dreamed it. A dream perhaps, but as Walt Disney said, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
Let’s have the courage to pursue this one.
Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run Race Director Greg Soderlund, who has led the world’s oldest and best-known 100-mile trail run through an unprecedented era of increasing popularity, prestige and worldwide renown, has announced his retirement, effective January 1, 2013.
Soderlund, who began his career at Western States in 2000, will oversee the December lottery and then will retire. Craig Thornley, who served as assistant race director in 2012, will take over for Soderlund.
“It has been an honor to direct a pinnacle event in the sport of ultrarunning for the past 13 years,” Soderlund said. “I will continue to be involved with the event and will assist Craig and the Western States Board in any way I can. The past 13 years have been a remarkable journey, and I thank the Western States Board for their trust and guidance. I have been inspired both by the runners and our 1,500-plus volunteers and the amazing growth the sport has experienced over the last decade. I extend a special thanks to our tireless and selfless volunteers — without their dedication to the runners there would be no event.”
Under Soderlund’s direction, Western States has seen its annual lottery swell to nearly 2,000 applicants. Working closely with presenting sponsor Montrail and the Montrail Cup series of Western States qualifying races, Soderlund’s efforts have fostered greater competitive depth of the elite men’s and women’s fields. In addition, the race’s trail maintenance efforts, volunteer ranks, medical research agenda and sponsorships are all at record levels.
The 2012 edition of Western States was just one example of Soderlund’s focused, athlete-centered race direction. Men’s and women’s course records were set by Timothy Olson and Ellie Greenwood, while the race also saw a record number of finishers and the most sub-24-hour silver belt buckles ever awarded in the race’s 39-year history.
“Greg has set an incredible standard for 13 consecutive race cycles,” Western States Board of Trustees President John Trent said. “Our race has been blessed to have someone of Greg’s abilities directing our race. I may be a bit biased, but I believe that Greg is the best race director in the country.
“The thing I will remember most about Greg is his belief that every runner who toes the starting line at Squaw Valley on the fourth Saturday of June should have the experience of a lifetime while running our race. Amazingly, for 13 historic race cycles, he’s always been able to accomplish that goal. For that reason, and much more, Greg’s legacy is simply remarkable.”
Western States is a registered trademark of the Western States Endurance Run Foundation copyright © Western States Endurance Run Foundation.
