Palisades Tahoe Hosting World's Elite Endurance Runners

At Palisades Tahoe, CA, the 51st Western States Endurance Run kicks off bright and early at 5 a.m. on Saturday, June 29th.

Western States was first held in 1974, and now, the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run has a 369-runner field from throughout the United States and more than 30 countries. Watch a recap of the 2022 Western States 100-Mile Run, below.

It is more than just a race: its mission, besides staging a quality, world-class event for competing runners, is to perform trail stewardship and conduct medical research studies for the advancement of running.

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.

Excitingly, Jim Walmsley, the men’s Western States Endurance Run record holder, will make his first run since winning the race for his third time in 2021.

The organizers of the race are excited about Walmsley's return as WSER Race Director Craig Thornley said, “Jim’s runs at Western States have left an indelible mark on our history."

Walmsley, who is 34, and lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, won the men's race with a record finishing time of 14 hours and 9 minutes in 2019.

Since then, Jim has reportedly spent the majority of his time living and training in France, where he has been preparing for the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc. His work paid off and he won that race last September.

According to a press release sent to POWDER, " when Walmsley makes his way to the starting line in Olympic Valley on June 29, it will mark his first race start in the United States since his win at Western States in 2021. Walmsley’s other victory at Western States came in 2018."

For women, there is also an exciting athlete making an appearance. Katie Schide, the 2023 women’s runner-up, will also be competing again. Katie Schide ran the second-fastest women’s endurance race in history last year (16 hours and 43 minutes).

“It’s worth noting that our women’s races over the past several years have proven to be deep and highly competitive. The 2023 women’s race saw a new women’s course record, as well as the second-fastest, fourth-fastest, sixth-fastest and ninth-fastest women’s times in our history. This year’s race is shaping up to be no exception.”

The other top 10 runners from last year who are returning include: Tyler Green, 40, of Portland, Oregon; Jiasheng Shen, 29, of Kunming, China; Daniel Jones, 33, of Wellington, New Zealand; non-binary runner Ryan Montgomery, 30, of Wanship, Utah; Jeffrey Colt, 33, of Carbondale, Colorado; and Cole Watson, 32, of Rancho Cordova, California.

Schide, 32, from Gardiner, Maine, also lives in Europe, in the village of Saint-Dalmas-le-Selvage in France’s Mercantour National Park. Schide finished second to Dauwalter at Western States last year.

In addition to Schide, Top 10 runners from last year who are returning include: Hungary’s Eszter Csillag, 39, who lives in Hong Kong, third; Emily Hawgood, 29, of Beatrice, Zimbabwe, fifth; Ida Nilsson, 43, of Kalmar, Sweden, seventh; Priscilla Forgie, 33, of Edmonton, Alberta, eighth; and Leah Yingling, 33, of Salt Lake City, ninth.

Both the men’s and women’s fields will also feature several “HOKA Golden Ticket” entrants. HOKA Golden Tickets are awarded to the top men’s and women’s ultra runners who placed highly in competitive ultras held both in the United States and internationally.

This year’s 375-runner field is also extremely diverse, with runners from all backgrounds, abilities, and walks of life across the globe.

For example, among this year’s entrants is William “Will” Barkan, a 40-year-old runner from Mill Valley, California with progressive vision loss. However, this has been a challenge he has faced head-on. Over the past seven years, Barkan has finished challenging mountain 100-milers including Run Rabbit Run in Colorado and Tahoe Rim Trail at Lake Tahoe.

This race offers the grand prize of a sterling silver belt buckle for a sub-24-hour finish, or a bronze belt buckle for any finish under the run’s 30-hour absolute cutoff.

According to the press release, "the buckles have been hand-crafted by the silversmiths of Comstock Heritage for more than three decades now and are considered the most coveted finisher’s award in all of ultra running."

This year’s event will be streamed live on YouTube starting at 4:15 a.m. on Saturday, June 29. The broadcast will conclude at 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 30. To follow along, watch here: https://www.youtube.com/@WSER100

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