Race News

The 2014 Western States Lottery was held on Saturday December 7, 2013 at the Placer High School Auditorium. Around 250-300 people braved the snow and ice to attend.

This year we had 127 automatic spots that were either designated pre-lottery or are reserved from the 400 total we will accept into the race.

• Top Ten 18 of the top ten men and women are returning
• Raffle 14 from previous two raffle drawings
• Race Admin 29 aid stations and other race administration roles
• Special Consideration 2
• Foreign Consideration 12 – We accepted 12 foreign entrants pre-lottery for global representation
• MUC 23 (out of 30) – There are five races where top three men and women can qualify. We are estimating that not all will be taken.
• UTWT 6 – Ultra-Trail World Tour spots for elite athletes
• Gordy 1 – The founder of the race from 1974
• Board of Trustees 3
• Tenth Finishes 4 – Andy Jones-Wilkins, Erik Skaden, John Nichols, Tom Green are all going for their 10th finish
• Sponsors 15

We pulled 270 names from the barrel of 4307 tickets and 2704 unique names in front of the live audience. This is how many were chosen from each ticket group.

• 101 one ticket holders selected
• 78  two ticket holders
• 45 three ticket holders
• 27 four tickets holders
• 19 five ticket holders

We then did a special drawing from members in the audience for an additional 3 spots. These went to Deno Dean, Dawn Hitchcock, and Tina Frizner.

Here is the video of the Lottery from start to finish.

Here are the results of the Lottery in order drawn.

Congratulations to all accepted runners.

Next year’s lottery will be held on December 6, 2014 at Placer High School in Auburn.

Updated December 4, 2013 1:30 p.m. PST

The rapid growth in number of applicants for the WS lottery, continues. We currently have 2705 applicants entered in the December 7 lottery for the 41st running of the Western States Endurance Run on June 28-29, 2014.

As described on our lottery page, each runner who enters the lottery and fails to gain entry into the Run (and otherwise doesn’t gain an entry via other means such as an aid station, sponsor, or MUC spot) will have one additional name in the hat (for a total of two) when entering the lottery the following year, thus improving the probability of being selected. Every lottery applicant will receive an additional name in the hat for each consecutive failure to gain entry.

Here is the final list of applicants and their corresponding ticket counts and also the file of tickets that will get printed and placed in the barrel. Finally, here is the current list of accepted applicants in the race with a column denoting how they got it outside of the lottery.

Based on Monte Carlo Simulations, and a draw of 270 names, we have calculated the probabilities of being selected as follows:

The lottery will take place at the Placer HS auditorium. We will begin introductions a little before 9am and start drawing names right at 9 a.m. We expect to be done by 11 a.m. 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 lottery.ultralive.net as close to real-time as possible. There will also be a live video feed.

 

The Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run was very pleased with the initial impact and excitement created by the formation of the Ultra-Trail World Tour in August. Today’s announcement in New York City further reinforces this point. The Tour has profound potential to generate collective interest and participation in the world’s finest trail runs.

Given this important juncture in the evolution of our sport, Western States feels that the Ultra-Trail World Tour provides the best and most sustainable framework for the sport’s future. With 10 international and North American events scheduled to begin in January, the Ultra-Trail World Tour will provide runners of all abilities an exciting vehicle to experience the world’s finest trail events, and will bring widespread attention to core values that all of these races have come to represent. These core values are in direct alignment with Western States’ mission pillars of staging a quality and memorable event; cutting-edge medical research that works for the betterment of the sport; trail stewardship that ensures public access and careful tending of the precious trails of the natural world. Western States also believes that the Ultra-Trail World Tour provides our sport with the best competitive framework for the world’s finest trail events to determine men’s and women’s champions through a fair drug-free format that will test their abilities on a variety of terrain and course design. The “best practices” of race management and race technology will also be gathered through the Tour for the benefit of all runners. The breadth and excitement of our sport will be channeled to diverse audiences through the potential of strong and positive media exposure.

As the Ultra-Trail World Tour goes forward, it is important to note that Western States remains firmly committed to a field size that will not exceed our historic and federally determined number of approximately 369 starters. There will be no net loss of lottery spots due to our relationship with the Ultra-Trail World Tour, and our presenting sponsorship relationship with Montrail is illustrative of this commitment. Due to the re-structuring of the Montrail Ultra Cup’s (MUC’s) schedule for 2014, Western States will have six slots reserved for elite athletes competing in the UTWT. This is how the process will work: Western States will provide 30 spots (five races for top three men and top three women) to 2014 MUC qualifiers. In years past, Western States has provided 36 spots to MUC qualifiers. Thus, there is no net loss in lottery spots for the masses. It is important to note, too, that Western States will continue to serve its local constituency through 30 race “admin” spots that are awarded each year to volunteers at aid stations, trail crews, sweeps and other key contributors to Western States.

The Tour has a very big agenda to accomplish in the coming months, including formalizing plans for communication, marketing and promotion, awards structure and governance. These are important steps as the UTWT prepares for its debut in 2014. The UTWT’s formation represents a significant change in the history of the sport of ultramarathoning. Western States welcomes this start of a new era of growth, excitement and cooperation among the world’s finest trail races.

Keep it fair. Keep it Simple. Raise the Bar.

The goal of having qualifying standards is to ensure that the runner knows what he/she is buying into, and to ensure that he/she has a reasonable chance to finish Western States within the time limit of 30 hours. Historically, the minimum standard has been the completion of a 50 mile run under 11 hours. WS has seen a dramatic increase in the number of applicants in its annual lottery, especially since the cancellation of the race due to fires in 2008. With a 369 starter limit imposed on the race by federal legislation, we accept about 400 runners each year. We reserve about 130 entries for race administration (aid stations, trail crew, sweeps, etc.), Montrail Ultra Cup winners, sponsors, raffle winners, overseas runners, members of the Western States Endurance Run Board of Trustees, etc., thus we draw about 270 names at the lottery each December. Here’s the history of the growth of lottery applicants since 2000:

• 2000 – 583 applicants.
• 2005 – 791 applicants.
• 2008 – 1,350 applicants (fire cancellation).
• 2010 – 1,693 applicants (last year for two-time losers).
• 2011 – 1,786 applicants (first year for multiple tickets in the hat).
• 2012 – 1,940 applicants.
• 2013 – 2,295 applicants.

The chances of being one of the lucky 270 drawn last year, with only a single ticket in the bucket, was a scant 7.9%. With the likelihood of continued increase in demand – which parallels the growth of the sport worldwide – if we continue with our current standards and races, the chances of getting selected in the lottery will soon be below 5%. We don’t believe that is good for the race or the runners who get a qualifying time, enter the lottery, and then get rejected in the lottery, some year after year after year.

The WSER Board of Trustees believes that the run should be open to anybody and is hesitant to make the standard faster or to require a 100 mile qualifying run. In 1974, Gordy Ainsleigh ran 100 miles with the horses but had never run 100 miles before that day. Many people who ran the race in the following years had also never run 100 miles before they ran from Squaw Valley to Auburn. The Board respects that history and still wants to provide the opportunity for a runner to stand at the start of the race, stare up at the steep mountains of Squaw, and have little idea of what lies ahead.

But, the Board also realizes that something needs to change to alleviate the increasing pressure on our lottery. Thus, the qualifying standards for entering the WS lottery beginning with the 2015 race are:

• 100K finish in under 16 hours or;
• 100M finish in time allowed by race.

We have limited the number of qualifying races to the largest trail 100 milers domestically, and the largest 100Ks that are also of significant difficulty. The 100K distance aligns better internationally. Worldwide, we’ve included the largest races but also have the goal of geographic diversity so runners from anywhere in the world have an opportunity to run a qualifying race. There are 63 races on the 2015 qualifying races list.

The 2015 qualifying run must be run from Monday, November 11, 2013 through Sunday, November 9, 2014.

We are happy to announce that Montrail and Western States Endurance Run have renewed their relationship for two more years. Montrail has been the presenting sponsor of Western States since 2007. The Montrail Ultra Cup will continue and the top three men and women in each of the races will earn spots in Western States which again will be the final race in the series. The races in the MUC, which will all be after the December 7, 2013 WS lottery, will be announced soon. Watch montrail.com, Montrail’s Facebook page, wser.org, and WSER’s Facebook page for details.

The 41st Running of the Western States Endurance Run will be June 28-29, 2014, Squaw Valley to Auburn, California.

2013 Race Champions Timothy Olson (15:17) and Pam Smith (18:37)

383 Starters, 277 Finishers = 72% Finish Rate

95 Sub-24 hour Silver Buckle Winners

182 Sub-30 hour Bronze Buckle Winners

102 Official High in Auburn on June 29, 2013. 2nd hottest day in 40-year race history.

New Male Master’s course record 15:45 Mike Morton, 41.

2013 Race Results

Post race coverage at iRunFar.com

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: John Trent, media relations (775) 842-4871, president@wser.org

WESTERN STATES 100-MILE ENDURANCE RUN

FEATURES STELLAR FIELD FOR 40^th RUNNING

The world’s oldest and most prestigious 100-mile trail race returns defending men’s champion Olson; women’s race wide open

The top trail runners in the world, including men’s champion and course record holder Timothy Olson, will embark on the 40^th running of the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, June 29-30, 2013.

Western States is the world’s oldest and most prestigious 100-mile trail run. The race features a field of more than 360 entrants from more than 20 countries, and more than 40 states. Runners start from Squaw Valley, Calif., the site of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games. They climb and descend about 40,000 feet through the alpine beauty of the Granite Chief Wilderness and the deep, equally picturesque, yet infernal canyons of the historic California Gold Country, then cross the Middle Fork of the American River before finishing at Placer High School in Auburn, Calif. The 100.2-mile race has a 30-hour time limit.

Olson, 29, of Ashland, Ore., ran a race for the ages last year, shaving more than 20 minutes off Geoff Roes’ 2010 course record with a run of 14 hours and 46 minutes. A number of ultrarunning’s most talented and accomplished athletes will vie for the women’s title with two-time defending women’s champion and course record holder Ellie Greenwood sidelined with a stress fracture.

Top contenders in the women’s race include: Rory Bosio, 28, of Soda Springs, Calif., who finished second last year; Nikki Kimball, 42, of Bozeman, Mont., a three-time women’s champion (2004, 2006, 2007); Amy Sproston, 39, of Portland, Ore., eighth last year and the reigning World 100-Kilometer Champion; and Meghan Arbogast, 52, of Corvallis, Ore., 10^th last year and generally considered the finest veteran (over 50 years old) runner in the world. Intriguing newcomers include Emily Harrison, 27, of Front Royal, Va., a former NCAA cross country All-America who has run a 2:32 marathon and chased Greenwood to a second-place finish in the country’s largest 50-mile race, the JFK 50-Miler, in November.

On the men’s side, Olson will be challenged by: 2013 third-place finisher Nick Clark, 39, of Fort Collins, Colo., the only person in race’s modern era to run under 16 hours twice in their career; 2007 and 2009 champion Hal Koerner, 37, of Ashland, Ore.; 1997 champion and former course record holder Mike Morton, 41, of Lithia, Fla., who is making his return to Western States after a 16-year competitive absence and is coming off a superb year in 2012 that saw him set an America Record for the 24-hour run and notch a victory in the blistering conditions of the Badwater 135-mile run. A cadre of younger, rising runners will press the “old guardsmen” every step of the way.

“Last year was an amazing day for all concerned – we had record low temperatures, both the men’s and women’s course records were broken and we handed out the most silver buckles (for sub-24-hour finishes, 148) in our modern era,” said race director Craig Thornley. “Both our men’s and women’s fields this year are extremely deep. We could have champions ranging anywhere in age from their 50s to their early 20s.

“We had a relatively dry winter in the high country, so conditions are snow-free and potentially fast. Thanks again to the Montrail Ultra Cup, (which has provided an avenue for qualification for many of sport’s elite runners through a national series of qualification races), there are probably close to a dozen to 15 runners with a legitimate shot at winning either our men’s or women’s race.”

This year’s race is also notable in that it will mark the 40^th anniversary of Gordy Ainsleigh’s historic run in 1974, when Ainsleigh, of Meadow Vista, Calif., became the first person to cover on foot the entire 100 miles of the Western States Trail between Tahoe and Auburn in less than 24 hours. The 66-year-old Ainsleigh is entered in this year’s race.

WHAT: 40^th running of the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run

WHEN: Saturday, June 29, 5 a.m. start at Squaw Valley, Calif., finish at Placer High School, Auburn, Calif. More than 360 trail runners from more than 20 countries and more than 40 states to compete.

Western States Endurance Run: https://www.wser.org

Montrail Ultra Cup: http://ultracup.montrail.com/overview.aspx

We have added rule #18 to our list of Performance Rules for all runners:

18. The Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run is committed to keeping ultrarunning a clean, drug-free sport. Use of performance enhancing drugs or blood doping as defined by the USADA is forbidden. The Western States board reserves the right to disqualify a runner based on competent evidence of such use.

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 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.

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.

• What: 1983 WS Desperate Dreams screening, followed by a discussion with Jim Howard and Jim King, facilitated by Andy Jones-Wilkins.
• When: Sunday May 26, 2013, 6-9pm
• Where: Canyon View Community Center, 471 Maidu Dr, Auburn, CA
• Cost: Free
• Food: Firetrail Pizza will be on site selling pizzas.