News – Western States Endurance Run

2014 Runner Survey Results

Here are the results of the independent WSER Runner Survey from the June 28-29, 2014 race, conducted by ultralive.net.

All runners have to go through check-in the day before the race in Squaw Valley and we positioned the survey team at the end of the process: right after the “mug” shot and right in front of the entrance to the Western States store. Participation was very good (93% of starters) and we were able to correlate the data to finish times to make the analysis even more interesting.

Survey Questions

The runners were asked the following questions:

Number of 100’s started
Number of 100’s completed
Number of WSER started
Number of WSER completed
Number of years running ultras
Crew and Crew Size
Will they use a pacer?
Did they attend the Memorial weekend training camp
Shoe/Sock brand
Lighting system and brand
Hydration system

For 2014 edition of the WSER, there were 376 official starters, 296 finishers (78.7%) in under 30 hours with 129 finishing (34.3%) under 24 hours for the coveted Silver Buckle.

The survey had 352 participants (93% of the entrants) including nearly all of the elite runners. Of the survey participants 276 finished (78.4%) and 116 finished in under 24 hours (32.9%).

Finish Hour

For sub 24 hour finishers, 37 out of 116 (31.8%) finished in the 23rd hour of the race to get a silver buckle. In the last two hours of the race, there were 75 (27.2%) finishers. The busiest times on the track are between 4-5 AM and 9-11 AM on Sunday morning. The graphs show the distribution of finishers by hour (14 hours to 29 hours). The first graph shows the average number of years running ultras compared to finishing time. The data implies that the number of years of experience does not correlate to a faster or slower finish time. The second graph shows the number of runners utilizing a crew or pacer compared to finishing time. Basically everyone uses a crew and pacer and the numbers correlate directly with the number of finishes in a given hour. Of the survey participants, 22 finished without a crew (7.9%) and 27 finished without a pacer (9.7%). And 10 (3.6%) hardcore participants finished without a crew and pacer.

Shoes

Hoka was the dominant shoe for all finishers regardless of the group. Of note, Brooks was a strong second when you look at all finishers but not a big contender for the sub 24 group. Pearl Izumi was in the top 3 for both groups of finishers.

Socks

Injinji was the clear choice for both the overall and sub 24 groups. Drymax was second in both groups as well. Nearly half the finishers wore these two types of socks.

Training Style

Either you don’t need a coach to finish WSER or there is a huge untapped market out there for the coaches. You decide. With or without a coach your chances of a sub-24 and finishing are about the same.

Lighting

Petzl is the clear leader with Black Diamond a strong second. Almost everyone uses some kind of headlamp and about a quarter of the finishers use both a handheld and headlamp.

The first 9 finishers of the race didn’t need a headlamp as it wasn’t dark enough yet. M10 was the first “headlamp” finish.

The winner, Rob Krar, didn’t even pack a headlamp. Go big or go home.

Hydration

Bottles are the predominant mode of hydration in the race. Nearly three-quarters of finishers (overall and sub 24) use a bottle. It seems that the hydration belt is definitely out of favor these days when you have such a large selection of hand held bottles and/or hydration packs to choose from for carrying liquids.

Data Accuracy

376 Runners Started the 2014 Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run
Ultralive.net Team surveyed a majority of those runners through the registration process at Squaw
12 responses were removed due to data capture error (6 bib numbers had two rows of data with different responses, attributed to misreading Excel line number line instead of bib number)
Final survey reflects N = 352 athletes though individual questions may vary if athlete did not answer or know answer
Most graphs reflect data from the group of athletes who completed the race (276 in the survey finished)

Credits

Many thanks to the ultralive.net survey team: Kara Teklinski, Monique Winkler and Dana Katz.

Final statistics compiled by Kara Teklinski and Ted Knudsen.

Posted in General Interest, Surveys | on: April 5th, 2015 by Craig | Comments Off on 2014 Runner Survey Results

2015 Lottery Results

The 2015 Lottery was held in front of a live and remote audience on December 6, 2014 in Auburn, CA. The master of ceremonies was five-time champion, 25-time sub-24 hour finisher, past WSER president and current vice president Tim Twietmeyer.

Tim Twietmeyer, Master of Ceremonies, with Devil’s Thumb AS Captain Denis ZIlaff

As described in my presentation before the drawing, the target for total number of entrants this year is 387: 114 automatics, 270 in the lottery drawing, and 3 in the bonus lottery.

114 Automatics

27 Race Admin (aid stations, trail crew, etc)
25 Montrail Ultra Cup (20 top runners, 5 others)
18 Top Ten Runners from 2014
16 Sponsor slots
11 Raffle Winners
6 UTWT elite foreign athletes
5 Foreign Consideration
2 WSER Trustees
2 Runners going for 10th finish
1 Special Consideration
1 Founder (Gordy)

WSER Awards Coordinator Gloria Takagishi Draws Names

270 Lottery Drawing

With 2566 entrants and their 6601 tickets, our pre-lottery monte carlo simulations matched closely to what we actually drew.

1427 first year with 1 ticket – predicted 67.7, actual 65
641 second year with 2 tickets – predicted 59.2. actual 55
281 third year with 4 tickets – predicted 49.6, actual 49
136 fourth year with 8 tickets – predicted 43.8, actual 46
57 fifth year with 16 tickets – predicted 30.8, actual 37
24 sixth year with 32 tickets – predicted 18.9, actual 18

We drew 49 duplicate names for a total of 319 total draws to get the 270 unique names. Predicted was 313 draws.

As we always do, there were 3 additional names drawn in the Bonus Lottery at the end to give those in attendance a last chance. Those three lucky folks are:

Sarah McGinn
Jeff Boutte
David Rhodes

Congratulations to all who were selected.

Lottery Results on ultralive.net
Taped Video Feed from ultrasportslive.tv
2015 Entrants List on wser.org
For more pics of the lottery see our Facebook Page.

Posted in Race News | on: December 9th, 2014 by Craig | Comments Off on 2015 Lottery Results

2015 Lottery Statistics

Last updated: December 4, 2014 at 8:24 am

There are 2566 applicants entered in the December 6, 2014 lottery for the 42nd running of the Western States Endurance Run on June 27-28, 2015 (a.k.a the 2015 Lottery).

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 additional names in the hat when entering the lottery the following year, thus improving the probability of being selected. Every lottery applicant will receive 2^(n-1) tickets in the hat where n is the number of consecutive years entering the lottery without gaining entry. That is, 1st year applicants = 1 ticket, 2nd year = 2 tickets, 3rd year = 4 tickets, 4th year = 8 tickets, 5th year = 16 tickets, 6th year = 32 tickets. 2010 was the first year we started accumulating tickets so maximum number of years for the 2015 lottery is 6, or 32 tickets.

Here is the final list of 2015 lottery applicants and here is the pdf of the 6601 lottery tickets that will go in the barrel.

We expect to draw 270 unique names, and have calculated the probabilities of being selected as follows:

24 folks with 32 tickets, each has a 78.8% chance of getting drawn
57 folks with 16 tickets, each has a 54.0% chance of getting drawn
136 folks with 8 tickets, each has a 32.2% chance of getting drawn
281 folks with 4 tickets, each has a 17.6% chance of getting drawn
641 folks with 2 tickets, each has a 9.3% chance of getting drawn
1427 folks with 1 ticket, each has a 4.7% chance of getting drawn

The lottery will take place at the Placer HS auditorium, in Auburn, CA. We will begin introductions a little before 8:30 am PST and then begin drawing names shortly thereafter. 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 ultralive.net as close to real-time as possible. There will also be a live video feed at ultrasportslive.tv.

Posted in Race News | on: November 22nd, 2014 by Craig | Comments Off on 2015 Lottery Statistics

ARC Granite Chief Expansion

Dear Friend of Western States,

The Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run needs your help.

In July, it was announced that the American River Conservancy (ARC), a non-profit, 501(c)(3) public-benefit organization based in Coloma, Calif., had signed a purchase contract to acquire 10,000 acres of mountain meadows and old-growth forest at the headwaters of the American River. The purchase area, located immediately west of Lake Tahoe and Squaw Valley, has long been considered by our board to be the most strategically vital area in ensuring that the Western States Trail remains open and accessible for all public recreation for years to come. Once completed, the ARC’s purchase will join together two existing roadless areas, the Wild and Scenic North Fork American River and the Granite Chief Wilderness into a large block of contiguous protected land. The Western States Trail crosses this 10,000-acre of private land. Our board strongly believes that purchase of this land will guarantee the availability of these trails to hikers, runners, and equestrians, and enable the 100 miles of the Western States Trail to qualify for National Trail designation. We’ve agreed to help ARC in the next phase of this effort, which will include fund-raising for the $10.167 million purchase price from the parcel’s private owners. The Western States Endurance Run Foundation has pledged up to $50,000 to match donations made by friends of our organization.

Hodgson’s Cabin Near WS Trail

Against this backdrop, we are seeking your support. Please consider a donation on behalf of this historic effort to ensure that the “high country” portion of the Western States Trail remains open to the public in perpetuity. Deadline for donations in support of this effort is March. 1, 2015. One hundred percent of all donations will go toward the purchase price of $10,167,000, and, if for any reason the American River Conservancy fails to raise sufficient funds to acquire the subject property, then 100 percent of the donations will be returned to the donor. To make a contribution, please go to the Western States website at the following link. https://www.wser.org/granite-chief-wilderness-campaign/

To find out more about the ARC and the acquisition, go to arconservancy.org. Thank you in advance for your consideration regarding this project and your much-appreciated support of our race.

Sincerely,

John Trent
President
Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run Board of Trustees

Posted in General Interest, Trail Preservation, WSER Foundation | on: November 20th, 2014 by JohnT | Comments Off on ARC Granite Chief Expansion

The Swinging Restoration

The Last Piece of the American Fire Puzzle

The Swinging Bridge is finally back in business! The bridge, which spans the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the American River at the base of the Devil’s Thumb climb, has been restored and brought back from the ashes following the 2013 American Fire. This was accomplished jointly with USFS employees and WStrail.org volunteers. The USFS did a stellar job in getting the bridge done exactly one year after the American Fire was contained. As Craig Thornley, WSER RD, stated, “This USFS team did exactly what they said per our recovery plan in late 2013 — they delivered in a big way — huge thanks”.

The bridge work was completed over 5 days, but many days of planning, procurement, logistics and staging happened before the actual helicopter drops of material and equipment into Devil’s Basin. We had a large volunteer crew on the ground watching the material being dropped into the canyon on Monday September 15th. “This is actually amazing how good these helicopter pilots are — pin point precision”, stated Bryan Cowger, WSTrail.org volunteer. Monday with the big volunteer crew along with USFS Engineer Ryan Mack’s direction we got the material staged at the bridge in 4 hours. Tuesday construction started with a small crew of USFS personnel and several volunteers. The days were long and there was a lot accomplished through Thursday. The bridge was nearing completion when the plug was pulled Thursday 9/18, and the crews removed due to safety and air quality concerns brought to us by yes another fire — the King Fire.

The King Fire was a fast mover, and actually moved very fast from Pollock Pines along the US 50 corridor to the north, and went all the way to the 2001 Star Fire burn, which in 2001 decimated 14 miles of the historic Western States Trail. The firefighters did their amazing magic, and with the luck of mother nature — a rain storm — the fire has been controlled (the King fire is 98% contained as of 10-3-14)

As the King Fire was reaching containment, and with the air quality improved, USFS personnel and a small volunteer crew were allowed to go back to the Swinging Bridge re-build on Monday September 29th. After another long day this crew got the job done and the bridge was historically restored. All the equipment and some of the old burned up materials were removed. These materials are being stored at the WSER Warehouse for historical safe keeping.

This was the final piece in a very long trail year that mainly focused on American Fire Recovery. Volunteers along with our strong USFS partner made this happen. Thanks to all who have helped either with sweat equity, planning, leadership or financial support. These volunteer and agency assets allow us to keep this precious resource, the Western States Trail, open.

Big Thanks… Put a fork in it — it’s done!!!

WSTrail.org

The Monday Helicopter Drop Volunteer Crew

Matt Brownlee, USFS American River Ranger District Trails Manager

From top left Joe Larkin (WSTF volunteer), Ryan Mack (USFS), Luke Haworth (USFS), Dan Manry (USFS), Mark Lambert (retired USFS), John Catts (WSER volunteer), Dave Noxon (USFS), Craig Thornley (WSER volunteer), Matt Brownlee (USFS)

Posted in Trail Preservation | on: October 3rd, 2014 by Craig | Comments Off on The Swinging Restoration

Our Sponsors

Thanks to all of our sponsors for their ongoing support.

Western States Endurance Run