Men’s course record holder Jim Walmsley returns to the Western States Endurance Run on Saturday, making his first appearance since winning 100.2-mile run for the third time in 2021.
The 51st running of Western States starts at 5 a.m. Saturday (June 29) at Palisades Tahoe ski resort in Olympic Valley. The long, arduous journey has a finish line at the Placer High football stadium in Auburn. Western States is considered one of the world’s preeminent 100-mile trail races.
“Jim’s runs at Western States have left an indelible mark on our history. We are very excited to have him back this year,” Western States Race Director Craig Thornley said. “Jim is going to be pushed by a highly talented men’s field, though.”
In the women’s race, 2023 runner-up Katie Schide heads the field of strong runners this year at Westen States. She ran the second-fastest women’s race in Western States history last year – 16 hours and 43 minutes in finishing behind Courtney Dauwalter’s record time of 15:29.
“We are equally excited about our women’s race. We have one of the finest women’s fields ever assembled at this year’s race,” Thornley said. “It’s worth noting that our women’s races over the past several years have proven to be deep and highly competitive.”
Walmsley, 34, of Flagstaff, Arizona, established the men’s course record of 14:09 in winning in 2019. He has spent the majority of his time living and training in France, preparing with single-minded focus for the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, which he won last August.
He returned to his home base in Flagstaff this spring. 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.
Top-10 runners from last year who are returning include Tyler Green, 40, of Portland, Oregon, who finished second. Other notable returnees are Jiasheng Shen, 29, of Kunming, China, fourth; Daniel Jones, 33, of Wellington, New Zealand, fifth; non-binary runner Ryan Montgomery, 30, of Wanship, Utah, seventh; Jeffrey Colt, 33, of Carbondale, Colorado, eighth; and local runner Cole Watson, 32, of Rancho Cordova, ninth.
Schide, 32, from Gardiner, Maine, also lives in Europe, in the village of Saint-Dalmas-le-Selvage in France’s Mercantour National Park. She has had an extraordinary run of success over the past few years.
Schide won UTMB in 2022, finished second at Western States last year and then ran away from the women’s field at The Canyons 100K in Auburn in April. On some of the same trails used by the Western States Endurance Run, Schide set a new women’s course record at The Canyons by more than 40 minutes and finished sixth overall among male and female runners.
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 – top ultra runners who raced their way into this year’s run through highly competitive ultras held both in the United States and internationally.
In addition to the elite competitors, this year’s 375-runner field includes runners from all backgrounds, abilities and walks of life from throughout the United States and more than 30 countries.
The runners will be vying for a sterling silver belt buckle for a sub-24-hour finish or a bronze belt buckle for a finish under the run’s 30-hour final cutoff. The buckles have been hand-crafted by the silversmiths of Comstock Heritage for more than three decades and are considered the most coveted finisher’s award in all ultra running.
The 2024 run field will traverse the picturesque high country of the historic Western States Trail through the Granite Chief Wilderness in the early morning. They will then plunge into the deep canyons of the American River drainage.
The runners will pass through the sites of old mining settlements such as Last Chance, Deadwood and Michigan Bluff, making technical and challenging ascents and descents of more than 2,000 feet, before crossing the Middle Fork of the American River at mile 78 at the Rucky Chucky River Crossing aid station. From there, they will make a final push to the finish line at Placer High.
Among this year’s entrants is William “Will” Barkan, a 40-year-old runner from Mill Valley, with progressive vision loss. Over the past seven years Barkan has finished challenging mountain 100-milers such as Run Rabbit Run in Colorado and Tahoe Rim Trail at Lake Tahoe, plus rugged 100K’s such as California’s Miwok and The Canyons and Waldo in Oregon.
Barkan will run with a series of guides and has been granted an exemption by the Western States Board of Directors to use trekking poles during his run.
This year’s event will be streamed live on YouTube. Commentators Dylan Bowman and Corrine Malcolm will kick off the live broadcast at 4:15 a.m. Saturday. The broadcast will continue through the entirety of the event and will conclude at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
