A world class athletic event is happening in our backyard this weekend. Starting at 5am in Squaw Valley this Saturday, I — along with about 450 other runners from all over the globe — will begin a journey that traverses the Sierra Nevada range and ends up at the finish line in Auburn 100.2 miles away. I will get to see the sun rise twice, on Saturday morning then again on Sunday morning, without the benefit of sleep.
The Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run is one of the oldest ultra marathons, and it is regarded as the Boston Marathon of ultras (Western States is slightly tougher, mind you. Heartbreak Hill? pul-lease. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see a comparison.)
An ultra-marathon is anything longer than the standard 26.2 marathon distance, and you might think “Why would you go longer than a marathon?” Since most ultras are trail races, the dirt trails are much more forgiving on the joints and are more scenic than pavement. Running ultras takes major physical conditioning, but you have to be strong mentally too. It’s fun to push your mind and body to the test.
Ultra runners are typically older than road runners, mostly because the distance requires a certain mental toughness that is sometimes lacking in the more youthful set. We ultra runners also tend to just have an “on” switch and an “off” switch — there is no in between. When we do something, we’re totally focused and are relentless, whether it’s running, working, studying, or partying. Otherwise, we’re napping.
You probably wouldn’t be able to spot an ultra runner if you were behind him or her in line at Peet’s or the dry cleaner, mostly because most of us aren’t skinny like the stereotypical Kenyan marathoner. Rather, we have some meat on our bones to carry us up and down the mountains for hours on end. Running downhills is tougher than running uphills. We walk the big uphills, but the downhills can cause major damage to your knees and will thrash your quads if you’re not properly trained.
Getting into Western States is competitive, but the standards have been made easier for 2007. Up until now, we had to run a 50 miler in less than 9 hours (10 hours for a rugged trail one), or complete 3 50 mile races in a one year period, then apply to be put into the lottery where names are drawn at random for who gets in. The field is limited, as the trail can only accommodate so many people at once, and there are about three volunteers per runner to make the event safe and successful.
Some quick answers to FAQs: Yes, we complete the whole thing at once. No, we don’t run the whole way — some mountains are too steep to run, not to mention snow & altitude in the beginning, then heat in the canyons. Yes, we eat along the way at aid stations. Yes, we’re allowed a pacer from the 62 mile mark to get us safely through the night. There is a 30 hour time limit for the run. About 60-70% of all those who start actually finish, and of those only about 10% finish under 24 hours. I’m aiming for 29:59:59.
For more information on the race, see today’s Sports and Scene sections of the Bee for a good primer (page 3 of the Sports section is especially good), or for full details go to the official website. (I’m bib #259 if you’re interested in tracking the progress on Saturday & Sunday morning.)
Now off to Squaw Valley I go to make it in time for the afternoon blister clinic — I’d wear a SacRag shirt for the race, but sadly they’re 100% cotton & not CoolMax.
The Sac Rag 
Seriously, RunnerGirl you are my hero! I barely muster the 30 minutes of cardio three times a week per the surgeon general. So hat’s off to you! That is awesome and somewhat machine-like. Good luck this weekend!!!
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Thanks! We learned today in our medical clinic that the human body is 60% fluids, and we will replace half of those fluids during the run. So, I will be a 30% different person when I come back from the race (maybe the 30% of me who plays grammar cop will be lost in sweat during the race.)
The funny thing is that a lot of my fellow runners are already wearing their Camelbaks and gaiters (the things that cover your ankles and tops of your shoes to keep out rocks & grit) when we’re living on easy street at the Squaw Valley Lodge.
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What an incredible feat this is. I have friends who are into endurance riding, and have done these sorts of events on horses. But on foot … wow. Best wishes today!
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I’m already home — I was dropped at Duncan Canyon after 7 hours, along with many MANY others due to the heat & altitude & SNOW. Seriously, we had several miles of alternately slushy and ice-hard snow to get through just past Squaw Valley. I also had/have a cold that got much worse with the altitude. With the heat & my cold, it just wasn’t worth it to me to risk death today (in all seriousness..we sign our lives away for this & many end up in the ER and ICU.) One of the key messages our safety people at work is “If you’re doing something risky, ask yourself if you’d want a loved one of yours to do the same thing. If the answer is ‘no,’ then you should stop whatever it is you’re doing.” Check out how many have dropped so far & the reasons why:
http://ws100.com/webcast/drops.htm
There are probably some haters out there who will slyly smile that I didn’t finish, but it took a lot to qualify & train for this event. Props to my hubby for putting up with me for the past 7 months while the training has been going on! If I could do some online Doug Christie sign to you, I would.
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I hope you’re not too disappointed. It’s an incredible achievement just to compete. I am in awe!
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I’m not at all disappointed, in fact, it was a relief to miss one of the time cutoffs since it was only going to get hotter & the conditions much worse. I’m just going to stick with running my 50 milers from now on since I can do them without training as much, and the recovery is really quick (and they’re done in a day, so I can still do stuff following a race.) The % of finishers for Western States is at an all-time low — it will probably be around 50%, maybe fewer. There were 458 runners set to participate in WS, and more than 200 have been dropped (either for time cutoffs or medical reasons), and there were 34 runners who never even started for various reasons.
There’s even some controversy with the guy who came in first, since he apparently fell a few times while doing the last 200 meters or so and was helped up by his crew. My friends at the finish said that he was leaning on his crew to get to the last portion, and the rules are that you have to do the whole race by your own power, so he may be disqualified. To add insult to injury, he left the finish line in an ambulance.
One guy I passed in the snowy portion had a heart attack and had to be life-flighted out from a very remote location.
So again, given the choice of pushing myself at altitude while dehydrated and sick to meet a time cutoff only to end up in the hospital later on, OR going home & showering & having dinner with my husband at Malouf’s (try the beef shawarma over hummus) & sleeping in my own bed & now sitting here with my cat purring next to me, I’ll take the latter.
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and FauxPaws wins for the 2000th comment on 06/25/06 at 08:25 AM!
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Oh my gosh. It is so awesome that you qualified and trained and did as much as you did, and even cooler that you still had the good judgment to stop at the right time. A lot of people would have let their ego get the better of them only to risk their health in a very permanent way. WAY TO GO RUNNERGIRL!!!
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When I posted this, I was just hoping to raise awareness of this very cool event that goes on each year. If you’re interest is piqued at all from this blurb & ensuing comments, I strongly encourage you to go to one of the key vantage points next year to check it out yourself — or even volunteer in some capacity. It turns out that the guy who crossed the finish line first was disqualified since his crew and pacer assisted him across the finish line. He was unconscious when the doctors examined him at the finish, and he’s expected to remain in the hospital for a few days (story and photos on the bottom right of the Bee’s sports section & also on auburnjournal.com.) The guy who had the heart attack has been upgraded from serious to stable. And, how much would it stink to be the guy who crossed the finish line in 30 hours and one minute flat — just one minute too late to be counted as an official finisher?
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In my 7th grade yearbook there is an awesome picture of me running track with a pack of runners behind me. From the look on my face I’m clearly struggling and with the pack behind me it looks like I’m winning. In truth I was about to be lapped by every single person in the race. When I read the accounts of this endeavor I feel like I’m reading a delightful and foreign language. My heart totally goes out to that 30 hour & 1 minute finisher!!!
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