It’s arduous to consider that it’s been 10 years since I final ran the Western States 100. In June of 2014, I ran the race for my tenth and closing time.
I wrote a race report about it and in addition did an in depth interview with Bryon Powell to doc the day. Since that point, I’ve returned to the occasion yearly to volunteer, crew, tempo, cheerlead, and simply usually be part of the annual spectacle that’s Western States.
As we’re on the eve of the 2024 operating of the race, I believed it could be enjoyable to look again on my prime 5 Western States reminiscences of those previous 10 years and rely them down from fifth to first.
5. Diana Fitzpatrick Ending in Beneath 24 Hours at Age 60 in 2018
There’s maybe no ultramarathon that maintains the meticulous data that Western States does. And, for a race that has been held for 50 years, there are numerous historic performances which have gone down on the path between the beginning line in Olympic Valley and the end line in Auburn, California.
In 2018, then-60-year-old Californian Diana Fitzpatrick turned the primary lady over 60 to ever run Western States in underneath 24 hours. Her time of 23:52 not solely earned her a coveted sterling silver belt buckle but in addition positioned her in a outstanding twenty third place general within the ladies’s race.
We additionally word Fitzpatrick’s devoted service to the group. She has served on the Western States 100 Board of Trustees since 2012 and has been its president since 2019.
Diana Fitzpatrick ending Western States in 2017, the 12 months earlier than her age-group record-setting run. Photograph courtesy of Diana Fitzpatrick.
4. Steven Moore Breaking the Males’s 50-And-Over Age Group Report in 2019
In 1988, then-50-year-old Doug Latimer turned the primary particular person in Western States historical past to finish the race 10 occasions, and he did so in underneath 24 hours every time. This earned him the now-famous 10-Day Buckle. In that 1988 race, Latimer additionally set a 50-and-over course file of 18:43:58 that assumed an nearly legendary Holy Grail-type standing through the years.
Coming into the 2019 race, it was the longest-standing age-group file on the race by a protracted shot. That 12 months, Texan Steven Moore set his sights on the file, and with cautious preparation and flawless race-day execution, he took down Latimer’s 41-year-old file with a time of 18:14:57. It was a sight to behold as Moore circled that observe and triumphantly crossed the end line.
Then-51-year-old Steven Moore setting the boys’s 50-to-59 Western States 100 age group file in 2019. Photograph: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
3. Kaci Lickteig and Stephanie Case’s Boat Trip in 2017
In 2017, I used to be volunteering on the Rucky Chucky River Crossing when 2016 ladies’s winner Kaci Lickteig got here into the help station and promptly slumped in a chair. From nearly everybody’s perspective, it regarded like she was planning on dropping out of the race. She regarded drained, chilly, and had not one of the sparkle in her eye that we now have all come to anticipate from her.
As luck would have it, Lickteig’s coach, Jason Koop, was there and started speaking to her. Her long-time pacer Miguel Ordorica joined the dialog, and slowly, Lickteig’s smile returned. When Stephanie Case, a fellow competitor, sat down subsequent to Lickteig and started digging right into a pile of McDonald’s french fries, Lickteig was intrigued.
As Case stood to depart, she stated loudly, “C’mon Kaci, come for a ship experience with me!” At that second, Lickteig stood up and stumbled right down to the river to cross within the raft with Case. A number of hours later, in a time of 24:02, she crossed the end line.
This 12 months, Lickteig goes for her tenth end.
Stephanie Case and Kaci Lickteig after ending in 2017. Photograph: Larry Gassan
2. Clare Gallagher and Brittany Peterson’s Race for the Win in 2019
There have been many dramatic showdowns through the years at Western States, however none extra dramatic than the 2019 ladies’s race between Clare Gallagher and Brittany Peterson. At mile 78 that 12 months, early chief Courtney Dauwalter was compelled to desert the race as a consequence of harm. Gallagher and Peterson, who have been in second and third place on the time, have been instantly thrust into the highest two positions.
From there, they battled stride for stride for the following 15 miles, arriving on the Pointed Rocks assist station along with simply 5.5 miles to go. On the downhill path from the help station to No Palms Bridge, Gallagher opened a small lead on Peterson that she would by no means relinquish.
After practically 5 hours of operating shoulder to shoulder, Gallagher prevailed over Peterson by 11 minutes. Her break up time from Pointed Rocks to the end of 51 minutes stays the quickest time ever run by a girl over that stretch and sits solely three minutes behind Patrick Reagan’s males’s file break up.
Clare Gallagher (left) and Brittany Peterson after going one-two on the 2019 Western States 100.
1. Gunhild Swanson Ending with Six Seconds To Spare On the 30-Hour Cutoff in 2015
The ultimate hour of Western States, dubbed the Golden Hour, has been a time of excessive nervousness and drama through the years. In 2015, it was off the charts. I used to be standing on the observe with about quarter-hour left on the clock when a murmur rose within the crowd. Then-70-year-old Washingtonian Gunhild Swanson had arrived at Robie Level and had quarter-hour to cowl 1.3 miles.
Unbeknownst to these of us within the crowd, males’s race winner Rob Krar had wandered out to Robie Level and was now operating with Swanson, urging her on in flip flops. When Swanson lastly entered the observe, she had simply over 70 seconds to run the ultimate 250 meters to the end.
With a crowd of a whole bunch urging her on, Swanson made it throughout the road in 29:59:54. To at the present time, it’s the most extraordinary sporting second I’ve witnessed.
Gunhild Swanson after ending the 2015 Western States 100 in 29:59:54, six seconds earlier than the race cutoff at 70 years of age. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
I ponder what reminiscences await in 2024?
Bottoms up!
AJW’s Beer of the Week
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Name for Feedback
- What’s your favourite Western States 100 reminiscence?
- Who do you assume will put in probably the most memorable efficiency this 12 months?
