There’s a saying, “It’s better to be lucky than good.” In the case of the Western States 100, this is definitely true (unless you’re really, really good). For those who don’t know, the Western States 100 is the oldest 100-mile trail race in the world, and it runs from Squaw Valley, CA, to Auburn, CA – a total distance of 100.2 miles. The lottery for the race was held on Saturday, and although I only had a 2% chance of getting in with my single ticket, my name was the 110th one drawn. Fifty-four other single ticket holders were also picked, while a couple of thousand will have to try again next year.
I wasn’t expecting to get in, and this certainly flipped my plans for 2017 upside down (in a good way). I’m now planning to race:
– Syracuse Half Marathon
– Naked Prussian 50-Miler (April 1st)
– Rock the Ridge 50-Miler (May 6th)
– Cayuga Trails Marathon (June 3rd)
– Western States 100 (June 24th)
The field will be stacked more than ever this year. Every single woman from last year’s Top Ten will be back:
Kaci Lickteig
Amy Sproston
Devon Yanko
Amanda Basham
Alissa St. Laurent
Meghan Arbogast
Bethany Patterson
Maggie Guterl
Jodee Adams-Moore
Erika Lindland
Nine out of the Top Ten men will be back:
Andrew Miller
Jeff Browning
Thomas Lorblanchet
Paul Giblin
Ian Sharman
Chris Mocko
Kyle Pietari
Christopher DeNucci
Jesse Haynes
Other notable entrants at this point include:
Zach Bitter
Jonas Buud
Ryan Sandes
Mike Wardian
Sarah Keyes
There are also a handful of Golden Ticket races that will determine additional entrants:
January 7 — Bandera 100k
February 4 — Sean O’Brien 100k
February 18 — Black Canyon 100k
March 25 — Gorge Waterfalls 100k
April 1 — Georgia Death Race
April 15 — Lake Sonoma 50 Mile
The current list of entrants is available here.
I’m just starting to sort out some logistics, but I’m super excited. I’m going to continue taking it easy for a few more weeks, as my body is still recovering from so many races in 2016. With that being said, I’m definitely looking forward to putting in some serious training leading up to Western States. No sleep ’til Auburn!
