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It’s June, and in the ultra trail world that means attention is turning to Western States, an iconic 100-mile race in the United States.

Many consider Western States to be the ultimate ultra trail race, and it’s not hard to understand why. Like the Barkley Marathons, the event has a fascinating back-story and is the subject of a feature-length film that’s risen to cult status in the trail running community.

Each year, the race takes place on the last weekend in June. In 2026, that will be June 27-28. Given the time difference, that will be June 28 and 29 for us in Australia.

This year in the men’s race we have the showdown that we were hoping for last year, with former champs Jim Walmsley and Kilian Jornet both taking part. Somewhat disappointingly though, last year’s top two - Caleb Olson and Chris Myers - are elsewhere (Jornet was third in 2025).

Conversely, in the women’s all top 10 finishers from 2025 are backing up this year, led by Abby Hall who is looking to become the first woman to go back-to-back at the event for more than a decade. (More about both fields a little later…)

Horses for courses

Somewhat bizarrely, Western States began as a horse race back in the 1950s when a group of horsemen came together to ride the Western States Trail from Tahoe to Auburn, California, to prove horses could cover 100 miles in a day.

They succeeded and thus the Western States Trail Ride, which was also known as the Tevis Cup, was created.

Fast forward to 1972 when horseman and Tevis Cup regular Gordy Ainsworth finds himself with a lame horse just ahead of the race. What to do? Why not have a crack at running the course instead? So that’s exactly what Gordy did, finishing just inside the 24-hour race time limit.

Five years later 14 men took part in the first official Western States Endurance Run, with the runners competing alongside the horses. The following year, in 1978, the running race shifted a month earlier to become an independent event. And the rest is history.

Hot and cold

One of the things that makes this race so demanding is the temperature extremes. It starts at Olympic Valley in California, home of the 1960 Winter Games, and finishes 100.2 miles later on the Tartan running track of Placer High School in Auburn.

Runners often literally have to run through the snow as they head over the Sierra Nevada mountains before descending into canyons where the temperature’s often in the mid to high 30s Celsius. It’s not unusual to see runners with their heads in buckets full of iced water at aid stations trying to cool down.

At mile 78 runners have to cross the American River at the evocatively named Rucky Chucky aid station. This is done by wading across while holding a guide rope. But in high water years runners are ferried across in rafts, rowed by volunteers.

The route traverses the traditional lands of the Niseman, Washoe and other Native American people which, in the 19th century, was also gold mining territory.

Golden tickets … but not the Willy Wonka kind

With only 369 entrants every year (or thereabouts), just getting to toe the Western States start line is a massive effort. The best way to guarantee entry it to be one of the top 10 men’s or women’s finishers the previous year.

But given that’s out of reach for us mere mortals, the best option is to enter via the lottery. Western States has a novel method of running its lottery, with the number of tickets you are allocated rising depending on the number of unsuccessful lottery applications you’ve made in the past.

Another method of entry is by securing a “golden ticket”. These are awarded to runners who do well in nominated races in the 12 months prior to Western States each year.

For example, Tarawera Ultra-Trail in New Zealand earlier this year was one such race, with the top two men and women taking home golden tickets. If one of the golden ticket winners either declines the offer to run Western States or already has entry via another means, the ticket passes to the next highest-placed runner.

There are a handful of places available for sponsors and some at the discretion of the race organisers. One place is allocated to a “silver legend” in memory of a former race director. To be eligible, runners need to be aged over 60.

And, rather quaintly, there are 10 places raffled off each year. At $5 a ticket and fully transferable, the race organisers say this is “a great opportunity to surprise that special ultrarunner in your life!”

If your ticket is drawn, or if your number comes up in the lottery, you still have to run a qualifying time in one of a long, long list of events, but this is not an impossible task. For example, Surf Coast Century is on the list and to be successful you need to break 17 hours. I ran that event in 2024 and was just outside that time - so it’s definitely achievable for a mid to back-of-the-pack runner.

Why 369 starters each year? The race website explains it like this:

Hot field

The mouth-watering match-up in the men’s will be between Jim Walmsley, a four-time Western States winner, and Kilian Jornet, the Spaniard who won the race in 2011.

Both are legitimately contenders for “greatest of all time” status amongst ultra trail running men.

Walmsley has swept all before him, especially in the US, over the past decade while Jornet has won races in the US and Europe and set the “fastest known time” on a number of different routes since he was in his early 20s.

One to watch for locals is Kiwi (okay, not that local but still closer than most other ultra running stars) Dan Jones. He seems to come fifth every year at Western States, but he’s been all in on this race this year and seems to have had a great lead-in.

Others in contention include American pair Adam Peterman, the 2022 winner, and perennial fan favourite Zach Miller, plus 2025 CCC winner Francesco Puppi, although the Italian will be hampered having had an injury-riddled lead-in. Another American, Hayden Hawks, would’ve also been on this list, but he’s had to withdrawn.

The women’s race should be gripping. Joining American Hall will be China’s Fuzhao Xiang who was second last year and who just goes from strength to strength.

Kiwi Caitlin Fielder was eighth last year, and she’s always worth watching. Holly Ranson will be flying the flag for Australia, her golden ticket coming courtesy of fourth place at Tarawera. She’s in form, having finished third at UTA 50 last month.

It will be interesting to see how Norwegian Yngvild Kaspersen goes. She was fifth in this race in 2024 and secured her golden ticket by finishing a close up second to Courtney Dauwalter in the Chianti 120k race. (Rachel Entrekin, who has just set the overall course record in winning the Cocodona 250 mile race, was third - so that was a hot field.)

America Anne Flower is another one I’ll be watching. She is here because she was second at Black Canyon, but more notably she broke the course record at Leadville - which is one tough race - in her 100 mile debut. Oh, and did I mention that record had stood for more than three decades?

So in both races, there is much to look forward to. And it’s only a fortnight away.

Upcoming Events

There are way too many events for me to list everything that’s happening around the country, but here is a selection of upcoming races (with a bias towards South East Queensland).

The Running Calendar website is a great source if you want a comprehensive understanding of what’s available around the country.