The women’s and men’s fields of the June 27 race are the deepest in history.
For more than 50 years, the Western States Endurance Run has been an epic test of endurance, resilience, and perseverance across one of the most iconic trail running routes in the world. This year’s race, officially considered the 53rd annual event, figures to be one of the best yet, given the depth of elite runners in the front of the pack and the compelling stories of determined age-group competitors.
Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know about Western States 2026.
Western States History
The race is built on grit, community, and tradition. Commonly known as the Western States 100, it’s the world’s oldest 100-mile trail race and one of the most prestigious events in ultrarunning. It was first officially held in 1977, but its roots and inspiration are tied to the historic Tevis Cup equestrian race and the legendary run of Gordy Ainsleigh, who opted to run the entire 100-mile Tevis course in 1974 after his horse came up lame earlier in the week.
Held each June, the race attracts elite ultrarunners and passionate amateurs from around the world who test themselves amid the heat 100-mile point-to-point course from Olympic Valley, California, to Auburn, California. Along the way, runners cross high alpine terrain, descend into remote canyons, and battle the extreme heat of the Sierra Nevada foothills while climbing more than 18,000 feet—including up and over the 8,750-foot summit of Emigrant Pass—and descending nearly 23,000 feet on the way to the finish line on the Placer High School track.
Most participants gain entry through a competitive lottery after completing qualifying races, and those who make the start line must battle the elements and the rough terrain to beat the 30-hour cutoff. For many runners, reaching the finish line is a life-defining achievement and a rite of passage in the sport.
The Western States Lottery
The Western States field is limited by its permit with the U.S. Forest Service to only 369 runners every year (based on a five-year average), so getting in can be a challenge. In 1984, Congress passed the California Wilderness Act, which established the Granite Chief Wilderness. Because the Western States Trail passes through that wilderness area between roughly miles 6 and 10, organized events would normally not be allowed there.
However, because the race existed before the wilderness designation, it was grandfathered into the legislation with one condition: the event could not have more runners than it did before the law was enacted. In 1984, the race had 369 starters, and that number has remained the limit ever since.
To ensure exactly 369 runners start the race, a waitlist system was introduced in 2017.
The annual Western States lottery was created to provide the fairest way possible to select the starting field. Registration for the lottery opens for a three-week period in November, and runners must complete a qualifying race within the designated qualifying window and time standard to be eligible. Those selected in the lottery receive an invitation through UltraSignup to finalize their registration and pay the entry fee. All other eligible runners remain in the pool, with names drawn at random by audience members during a public lottery held each fall at Placer High School in Auburn.
Last year, a record 9,983 runners entered the lottery with a cumulative 68,724 tickets.
Western States Course Records
Jim Walmsley, a four-time Western States winner, owns the men’s course record of 14 hours, 9 minutes, 28 seconds (2019), while Courtney Dauwalter, a two-time winner, is the women’s course record-holder from her 15:29:33 effort in 2023. To put Dauwalter’s record in perspective, that time is faster than Kilian Jornet’s winning time in 2011 (15:34:24) and would have won the men’s race in all but 12 years since its inception.
Ann Trason holds the record for the most Western States wins with 14 (1989-1998, 2000-2003), while Scott Jurek has the most men’s wins with seven (1999-2005). Only four other runners have won the race three or more times: Tim Twietmeyer (1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998), Walmsley (2018, 2019, 2021, 2024), Tom Johnson (1990, 1991, 1993), and Jim King (1982, 1984, 1985).
Twietmeyer famously recorded 25 Western States finishes, all of which were under 24 hours. He also racked up 15 consecutive top-five finishes and previously set the men’s masters course record of 17:17:50 (since broken by Tyler Green‘s 15:05:39 in 2024). Sweden’s Ida Nilsson lowered the women’s masters record to 16:56:52 in 2024.
Land Acknowledgement
This year, the Western States Endurance Run is launching a fundraising campaign to honor and support the Washoe and Nisenan Tribes—the original stewards of the mountains, canyons, and trails at the heart of this race. Their deep cultural, ecological, and spiritual connection to this land predates Western States by centuries, and their enduring commitment to these places shapes how all of us understand what it means to move through them.
This campaign builds on a relationship that began in 2022, when WSER collaborated with the Indigenous-led nonprofit Rising Hearts and their Running on Native Lands initiative to commission a landscape painting by artist and 2022 WSER finisher Yatika Starr Fields (Osage, Muscogee, Cherokee). Inspired by Washoe community recommendations of significant sites along the Western States Trail, the work was a testament to what becomes possible when a race genuinely listens to the people whose home it passes through.
The race organization is asking the Western States 100 community to go further. A financial contribution to this campaign will directly fund vital Tribal initiatives for the Washoe and Nisenan peoples and invest in the next generation of Native land stewards. To amplify your impact, the race will match every donation dollar-for-dollar up to $3,000. To give, Venmo @wser100. For more on the organizations behind this work: @rising_hearts and @yatikafields.
When It Starts, How to Watch
The 2026 Western States Endurance Run will take place on June 27–28. The race begins at 5 a.m. on Saturday, June 27 at Palisades Tahoe ski resort in Olympic Valley, California, and runners have until 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 28 to reach the finish line in Auburn. The race concludes what has become known as Tahoe Week, a 10-day span that includes Broken Arrow Skyrace, TrailCon, and Western States.
Follow Western States 2026 Live
The 2026 Western States 100 will be livestreamed on the Western States 100 YouTube channel beginning at 5 a.m. on Saturday, June 27, and continuing through the 30-hour cutoff at 11 a.m. on June 28. Although cell service can be unreliable in the high country and deep canyons, the livestream production is boosted by Starlink satellite service in many places, making it a compelling and nearly complete viewing experience from start to finish. You can also follow along by checking the race’s official live tracker and updates on X (formerly Twitter) from the WSER race organization and iRunFar.
Spectating in Person
If you’re planning to be onsite for the race, there are plenty of key places to watch the race, including at the early morning start at Palisades Tahoe resort, the 30-mile Robinson Flat aid station (it’s hard to park there, but there is a shuttle service), the 62-mile Foresthill aid station (which is a huge spectator event with a party atmosphere), and, of course, the finish line at the Placer High School track.
Volunteering
If you’re interested in volunteering at the Western States finish line, fill out this form. For other volunteer opportunities, visit this link.
Weather
From four days out, the weather forecast looks favorable for runners. Saturday, June 27, looks unusually cool for late June in Auburn, with a mix of sun and some clouds, afternoon temperatures only reaching the mid-70s°, and crisp morning temperatures in the mid-50s—excellent conditions for runners and spectators at Western States. Sunday, June 28, should be warmer and mostly sunny, with highs rebounding into the low 80s°F and dry conditions continuing.
Western States 2026: This Year’s Entrants
The 370-runner field of the 2026 Western States was selected through a multi-tiered process. Each of the top 10 finishers from last year earned an automatic entry (if they choose to return), while 30 additional elite runners were selected from Hoka Golden Ticket races throughout the year. The final entrants to this year’s race were the six runners who earned the final Hoka Golden Tickets at the Canyons Endurance Runs 100K on April 25 in Auburn, California: Adam Peterman, Zach Miller, Hayden Hawks, Riley Brady, Sarah Humble and Ellaney Matarese.
Most of the field was filled through a complicated, weighted lottery draw (which was held on December 5 at Placer High School), while 23 additional entrants were selected by official Western States sponsors (including first-time entrant Heather Huggins, who earned UltraSignup’s sponsor entry through our “Order of the Unchosen” program) and 10 more came through the race’s official raffle. Still a few others came off the wait list program, entered via a pregnancy deferral in a previous year, earned an entry through race administration work or aid station volunteer duties, and other special considerations.
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Runners in this year’s race hail from 44 states (California leads the way with 103 entrants, followed by Colorado with 30 and Oregon with 13) and 31 countries (U.S. has the most with 288, followed by Canada with 15, Australia with eight, and Japan with six.)
Amazingly, 289 of the 363 runners entered in this year’s race are seeking their first Western States finishes. Even more amazing, 11 runners earned an entry to the race despite having only one lottery ticket and 14 more got in with just two tickets.
The Oldest, Youngest and Most Experienced Runners
The oldest runners in this year’s race are Gilles Cote, 69, from Kalaheo, Hawaii, who got in via the lottery (256 tickets) and seeking his first finish, and Peggy Alfred, 67, of Los Gatos, California, a longtime Western States volunteer who is going for her third finish. In all there are 27 runners 60 and older in the race, including Mike Smith, 68, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Tom Krajna, 68, Huntsville, Alabama, Jeff Spencer, 67, Bentonville, Arkansas, Bob Brashear, 67, Cold Spring, Kentucky, John Edgcomb, 67, Fairfax, California, Keith Pronske, 66, Wilton, California, and Tim Degrado, 66, Columbia, Tennessee.
The youngest runners in the race are Ellaney Matarese, 23, of La Canada, California, who earned the final Golden Ticket at the April 25 Canyons 100K, Max Yanzick, 25, of New Zealand (Golden Ticket), Hans Troyer, 26, of Boulder, Colorado, (a returning top-10 finisher), William Byrd, 26, of Carmen, Idaho, (lottery), Zach Garner, 26, of Provo, Utah (lottery), and Sarah Humble, 26, of Salt Lake City (Golden Ticket). Approximately 54 percent of the runners (199 of 363 runners) are 45 or older, but only 4 percent (14 of 363 runners) are under the age of 30.
Among age-group runners, Dan Barger, 60, of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and Charley Jones, 54, of Folsom, California, are the most experienced runners in the field with 15 Western States finishes to their credit. Philip Sanderson, 58, of Mill Valley, California, has 11 finishes, while Alan Barichievich, 59, of Santa Rosa, California, has seven, and Glen Redpath, 60, of New York City, has six finishes.
Western States 2026: Women’s Contenders
The women’s field of this year’s Western States 100 is one of the deepest in history with 12 women entered in the race with previous top-10 finishes to their credit.
Top Returning Women
That includes all 10 of last year’s top 10 finishers, including defending champion Abby Hall, 35, of Flagstaff, Arizona, and Fuzhao Xiang, 34, of China, who finished as runner-up for the second straight year. The rest of the returnees include Marianne Hogan (36, Canada), Fiona Pascall (36, Great Britain), Hau Ha (37, Vietnam), Hannah Allgood (34, Colorado Springs), Caitlin Fielder (33, Andorra), and Emily Hawgood (31, Zimbabwe). Hawgood is the most experienced of the returnees, having recorded top 10 finishes in each of the past five years.
Sweden’s Ida Nilsson, a three-time top-10 finisher at Western States and fourth last year, announced in May that she won’t be returning because of a hamstring injury has kept her from training as well as she would have liked. Meanwhile, Keely Henninger (34, Portland, Oregon), who was ninth last year and in 2021, recently bowed out of this year’s race in a beautifully written post called “A Love Letter to Western States.”
Women’s Golden Ticket Winners
The women who earned a Hoka Golden Ticket this year include Riley Brady (30, Boulder, Colorado), Martyna Mlynarczyk (36, Poland), Anna Tarasova (42, Spain), Lotti Brinks (30, Boise, Idaho), Tara Dower (32, Durango, Colorado), Addie Bracy (39, Buena Vista, Colorado), Jennifer Lichter (29, Missoula, Montana), Molly Seidel (31, Flagstaff, Arizona), Honoka Akiyama (32, Japan), Holly Ranson (37, Australia), Yngvild Kaspersen (31, Norway), Lauren Puretz (43, Colorado Springs), Sarah Humble (26, Salt Lake City, Utah), and Ellaney Matarese (23, La Canada, California).
Hall, who previously earned three top 10 finishes at the CCC 100K, came back to win last year after devastating knee and leg injuries in 2023. Lichter, a Western States first-timers, won the fast Black Canyon 100K in February, and is coming off a big year in 2025, while another first-timer, Seidel, the bronze medalist at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, was fourth. Kaspersen was fifth in the 2024 Western States 100, while Bracy was ninth in 2019. Dower was third at the Black Canyon 100K and the winner of last fall’s Javelina Jundred, and Akiyama was ninth in the 78K race at the 2023 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. Not to be overlooked, Brady, the 2025 Black Canyon 100K winner, is back for their third time at Western States, hoping to improve upon a 14th-place showing in 2023 after dropping out of last year’s race.
(Another possible Western States first-timer Anne Flower, the runner-up and Golden Ticket recipient at Black Canyon 100 who famously broke Ann Trason’s 31-year Leadville 100 record last summer, won’t compete in Western States this year because of an injury.)
Another top runner to watch in the women’s field is Sarah Ostaszewski 34, Durango, Colorado), who won the 2024 Moab 240, is a two-time winner of the Ouray 100, and a three-time finisher and 2023 winner of the Cocodona 250.
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Western States 2026: Men’s Contenders
Only seven of last year’s top 10 finishers in the men’s race are coming back this year, but, along with a dozen other top runners, the Western States 2026 men’s field is a very compelling group—especially after it was announced on May 1 that Jim Walmsley would be in the field. (He was given a sponsor entry, but it didn’t impact anyone from the waiting list. The field this year will be 370 runners; the race’s permit allows for a 369-runner limit based on a five-year average. In 2023 the race started with 368 runners after an early morning no-show by one runner, so the average will be maintained.)
Top Returning Men
The field is headlined by Jim Walmsley, 36, a four-time champion from Flagstaff, Arizona, and Spanish runner Kilian Jornet, 38, of Måndalen, Norway, who, in addition to being last year’s third-place finisher, was also the 2011 champion and 2010 third-place finisher. Walmsley was hoping to run in last year’s Western States, but he wasn’t fully healthy and ready to race. Instead, he went to Chamonix last summer and won the OCC 50K and then took first in the 80K race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Spain.
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If you don’t know who Jornet is, he’s considered by many to be the G.O.A.T. of trail running, in part because he’s a five-time Hardrock 100 champion and four-time UTMB winner. Jornet ran the May 17 Zegama-Aizkorri marathon in Spain but was not competitive as expected. After Western States, he plans to return to Chamonix, France, to race UTMB on August 28-29. Jornet is one of just four runners to win Western States and UTMB in the same calendar year (he did it in 2011), along with U.S. women Nikki Kimball (2007), Courtney Dauwalter (2023), and Katie Schide (2024). Unfortunately, Jornet is suffering from a recurring knee injury, so the likelihood of being competitive in this year’s race has dwindled.
The other men’s top-10 returnees include Jeff Mogavero (32, Missoula, Montana), Daniel Jones (35, Wellington, New Zealand), Ryan Montgomery (32, Hanover, New Hampshire), Hans Troyer (26, Newnan, Georgia), and Hiroki Kai, (31, Japan), all of whom are on the rise and capable of contending for a podium finish. (Seth Ruhling, who was sixth in last year’s race, announced recently that he’s out of this year’s race with a torn labrum.)
Men’s Golden Ticket Winners
Men’s Hoka Golden Ticket winners include 2022 Western States winner Adam Peterman (30, Missoula, Montana), three-time top-10 finisher Hayden Hawks (35, Cedar City, Utah) and first-time Western States entrant Zach Miller (37, Manitou Springs, Colorado), along with Francesco Puppi (34, Italy), Jeshurun Small (27, Golden, Colorado), Will Murray (31, Blairstown, New Jersey), Canyon Woodward (33, Franklin, North Carolina), Anthony Costales (37, Salt Lake City), Tracen Knopp (27, Anchorage, Alaska), Jordan Bramblett (29, Paulden, Arizona), Jacob Banta (31, Mill Valley, California), Max Yanzick (23, New Zealand), Thomas Cardin (33, France), and Vincent Bouillard (32, France).
Along with Jornet, Montgomery, Hawks, and Jones each have three Western States finishes under their belts. Troyer was eighth last year and also won the JFK 50 and won the Black Canyon 100K in course-record time. Costales was third at Western States in 2023 and second at the Black Canyon 100K in February, Sinclair was second in last summer’s CCC 100K and last fall’s JFK 50-miler, while Ruhling won the Black Canyon 50K in commanding fashion in February and the Black Canyon 100K in 2025. Peterman won Western States in 2022 and came back last year and hoped to be competitive, but struggled throughout the day and persevered to finish 49th overall.
Meanwhile, Puppi won the Canyons 100K and the CCC 100K last year, Murray set a new record at the Javelina Jundred 100-miler in October, Cardin just won the Chianti 120K in Italy, while Bouillard won the 2024 Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc. Other accomplished runners in the men’s field are Jeff Browning (54, Flagstaff, Arizona), a four-time top-10 Western States finisher who was 18th last year, John Kelly (41, Butler, Tennessee), who is a three-time finisher of the daunting Barkley Marathons, and Justin Grunewald (40, Boulder, Colorado), who finished second at last summer’s Leadville 100.
Western States 100 Awards
There is no prize money for winning the Western States 100 (although this year could bring the possibility of an externally organized crowd-funded prize purse), but instead the men’s and women’s race winners take home a large bronze cougar trophy, get their name engraved on the Wendell Robie Cup, and are forever heralded in the annals of the sport for winning the race.
All runners who finish in under 24 hours earn a handcrafted silver belt buckle, while those finishing between 24 and 30 hours receive a handcrafted bronze buckle. For many participants, the buckles represent a lifetime achievement—especially for runners who have spent years, sometimes decades, entering the lottery in hopes of earning a coveted spot on the start line. The race also recognizes standout performances with age-group awards and special honors for the oldest male and female finishers.
The Lore of ‘Golden Hour’
The final hour of the Western States 100, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. local time, is known as the “golden hour,” when the last collection of runners battle the heat of the race’s second morning, agonizing fatigue, and sometimes severe dehydration, in a desperate push to reach the finish before the 30-hour cutoff.
It’s a time when spectators, support crew members, and numerous race participants—elite runners who finished the previous night, midpackers who finished in the wee hours of the morning, and even those who dropped out before the finish—congregate at the Placer High School track to witness the inspiring efforts of the final runners giving it their all.
It almost always produces tear-jerking moments watching those who struggle and make it, but also for those who just miss the 30-hour cutoff. There’s nothing like it in trail running, maybe even in running in general. In fact, it’s probably because of golden hour at Western States that the New York City Marathon and other races have made more of a point to highlight its final, late-night finishers in recent years.
There’s nothing remotely close to the Western States 100 when it comes to history, culture, and competition of trail running. It’s been a highly competitive race almost as long as it has existed, and it’s only become more competitive as the sport, and the race, have attracted global appeal. As as much as other races have gained prominence, Western States remains in the elite echelon of trail running races around the world.
More stories about Western States:
Jim & Kilian: A Conversation On the Couch with Brian Metzler
Order of the Unchosen: One Has Been Chosen To Run Western States
Through the Lens: 10 Favorite Captures from a First-Time WSER Photographer
The Demystifying Series: How to get into Western States Endurance Run
Three the Hard Way: Running Western States, Hardrock and UTMB in the Same Year
The History of the Belt Buckle in Ultrarunning
Breaking the Age Barrier: How One Researcher is Changing the Game for Older Ultrarunners
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