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Very rarely in ultrarunning does everything go according to plan. On paper, at least, the 2024 Western States on June 29 was one of those enigmatic days. Three-time winner Jim Walmsley and second-fastest woman ever Katie Schide entered the race as the clear favorites. And they not only gleamed under the pressure, they surpassed the hype to further cement their names in the history books.
Breaking the tape in front of hundreds of fans cheering at the Placer High School track and thousands more watching on the livestream, Walmsley, 34, won his fourth title in the second-fastest time ever of 14 hours, 13 minutes, and 45 second behind only himself. The 32-year-old Schide, meanwhile, ran away from the field yet remained calm and collected all day to break the tape and become just the second woman after Courtney Dauwalter to finish without a headlamp. She crossed the line in 15:46:57, taking nearly an hour off of her time last year and finishing just 17 minutes slower than Dauwalter’s course record set on a cooler day.
Perhaps there’s something to Walmsley and Schide’s shared formula for success. Both moved from the United States to France as adults. Both came back to the U.S. and trained for this race in Flagstaff, Arizona, and the nearby Grand Canyon. And both raced fearlessly from the front to claim the iconic cougar trophies as their own.
But of course, reality under the blazing sun between Olympic Valley and Auburn, California, was more complicated than it appears. Walmsley faced a formidable challenge from 28-year-old young gun Rod Farvard, who went for broke and nearly broke Walmsley in the process.
“It hurt a lot,” Walmsley said. “For the first time, really getting passed several times…Rod ran an incredible day. It brings a lot of emotion because it was really hard. I’m really proud of myself.”
Schide also played with fire, going out with the lead men. Speaking of fire, a wildfire itself played an active role on the course as firefighters spent the afternoon responding to the 15-acre Creek Fire adjacent to mile 80 of the course. And the final men’s podium spots came down to a literal sprint finish.
“I just tried to stay steady,” Schide said. “Once I had a good lead, my goal was to not do anything stupid and maintain my lead. The goal was to get here first and the other goals followed.”
Here’s what went down at the 2024 Western States 100 Endurance Run.
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A Hot-Paced High Country
Walmsley crested Emigrant Pass—which at 3.6 miles and 3,000 feet of climbing signifies the first and longest climb of the race—with the lead pack of men at sunrise. Notably, he was a few seconds back from Farvard and Ryan Montgomery off the front as they ran through the sea of fans on the ridge and dropped off the back into a sea of wildflowers. And shockingly, Walmsley was clad in a black T-shirt, black shorts, and a black hydration vest.
Was the bold, brash, white-T-shirt-perforated-with-hand-cut-holes-accompanied-by-hand-held-bottles Walmsley gone? Was the all-black outfit under what would soon be a scorching sun the biggest flex of all time, or a sign the three-time winner had lost his edge?
We got our answer at mile 15.8, where Walmsley, now shirtless, stormed into the Red Star Ridge Aid station, donned a white tee and a white bucket hat pre-cooled in water, and picked up his quintessential hand-held bottles. He may have lived in France for the past two years, but Walmsley of old was back, running comfortably between his fastest split here ever (which resulted in a DNF) and the split from his course-record run in 2019. A huge pack led by Farvard, China’s Guomin Deng, and Montgomery knocked on the door less than a minute back.
The pack burst through the door at mile 38, where Walmsley, who dealt with foot issues all day that resulted in numerous shoe changes, sat down at the Dusty Corners aid station, washed off his feet and changed his shoes. Hayden Hawks and Dan Jones, who for the second year in a row did much of their States training together, took advantage of Walmsley’s stop in forward momentum, rolling through the aid station to take the lead.
Meanwhile in the women’s race, Schide broke into uncharted territory. After topping out on Emigrant less than a minute behind the lead men, she made good use of the snow-free high country, reaching Red Star Ridge 22 minutes ahead of course record pace, smiling and waving during her 10 second pit stop where her crew swapped out her hydration pack. She continued to smile and wave as she repeated the process as Duncan Canyon (mile 24.4), Robinson Flat (mile 30.3), and Dusty Corners (mile 38), now 24 minutes ahead of Dauwalter’s shadow and 27 minutes ahead of Emily Hawgood in second.
Chaos in the Canyons
Walmsley didn’t linger behind for long. By the Last Chance aid station (mile 43.3) he caught back up Jones and Hawks. And by the top of the 1,500-foot exposed climb up to Devil’s Thumb (mile 47.8), he had forged a two minute head.
“I was with everybody at the bottom,” Walmsley said as he got ice in the aid station 6:44 elapsed before galloping away seconds later. He was two minutes behind his course record pace, and two minutes ahead of Jones and Hawks, who arrived together. Hawks, peeved he had to wait to get ice after Jones, forged ahead without it—a risk he would soon regret.
As the next dozen men staggered into the aid station over the next 10 minutes, the heat was starting to take its toll. Montgomery, 13 minutes off the lead, tossed a handheld to the ground, proclaiming he’d carry on without it.
Schide, still all smiles, power hiked into Devil’s Thumb in 7:09 elapsed with a commanding lead and in 18th overall—27 minutes ahead of course record pace, and 32 minutes ahead of her split from last year. She asked for a popsicle and continued on her way. But the race was far from over. Csillag, who closed impossibly hard last year to take third just 25 minutes back from Schide, looked fresh when she crested the climb in second 30 minutes later. Lin, Xiang, and Hawgood followed suit six minutes back.
The Western States spirit was raging at the Forest Hill aid station (mile 62), where a Barbie-themed aid station featuring cheerful volunteers decked out in neon Barbie-inspired Hawaiian shirts and athleisure wear greeted runners ranging from locked in to wavering under the scorching sun.
It’s often said the race starts here, on the one mile of slightly downhill pavement through the foothills town of Forest Hill. And sure enough we had a race! Walmsley galloped into town in 8:51:59 elapsed, focus glinting in his eyes, followed just 10 seconds later by none other than an equally determined Farvard, who at his third States seemed hell-bent on proving that his divisive win at the Canyons 100K in April was not a fluke. Dakota Jones stormed into town five minutes back, followed closely by Hawks, Dan Jones, and Jon Albon.
While the men’s race remained up in the air—would Farvard pull off the biggest Western States upset in at least a decade?—Schide continued to prove the betting books (if they exist in ultrarunning) right. She blazed into Forest Hill in 9:30 elapsed and after a quick shirt change and some new ice in her special ice cap, she exchanged some words with her coach Jason Koop as she ran down the street before plunging back into the inferno of the canyons by herself.
At this point, it felt like the pointy end of the women’s race was Schide against herself. The Chinese duo Fuzhao Xiang and Lin Chen ran into Forest Hill essentially together, nearly 40 minutes back. Her lead was firmly intact, but Schide was now only 19 minutes ahead of Daulwalter’s course record pace and leaking time.
RELATED: Your 2024 Western States Guide
A Race on Fire (Literally)
By mid-afternoon the 2024 2024 Western States was on fire—quite literally. The Creek Fire forced evacuations east of Auburn and for a couple hours prevented runners’ crews from accessing the critical Rocky Chucky and Green Gate aid stations at miles 78 and 79.8 on either side of the American River, where runners often pick up new pacers.
That was just fine for Walmsley and Schide, the Americans who after living in France decided to race States Euro-style, aka pacerless, this year. But this was after Farvard went for broke, passing Walmsley after Forest Hill and putting over a minute into him over the course of the next three miles.
Farvard’s lead was short-lived, making spectators on the ground and viewing the livestream on Youtube wonder whether Walmsley went through a low point or was simply playing with his food. Turns out, Walmsley, who has never had to contend with a head-to-head battle over the second half of the race until today, was running scared. But ultimately his strength, diligence at aid stations, and experience paid off.
By mile 70, Walmsley surged to over 90 seconds ahead, further extending that lead to five minutes by Quarry Road (mile 90.7). He never looked back, although he did end up recruiting his friend Ben to pace him for the final six miles for an extra boost, finishing the race in 14:13:45, less than five minutes back from his course record of 14:09:28 from 2019. Those present for that historic performance attest his race today was a more impressive effort given the warmer temps.
But the race for the podium wasn’t over. After run-walking up the final kick-in-the-teeth climb to Robie Point (mile 99), Farvard hung on for dear life on the final descent to the track in Auburn until his pacer Tim Tollefson saw a sea of white behind. It was Hawks and his team. Time to go! Farvard tapped into a gear he didn’t know he had, sprinting onto and around the track and collapsing across the line in a heaving, groaning heap for second in 14:24:15—just 16 seconds ahead of Hawks in the third—and fourth-fastest times ever.
The women in the race, meanwhile, have taken the level of competition to unprecedented heights each year recently, and this year was certainly no exception. The course record slipped from Schide’s grasp over the final third of the race, but she persevered pacerless through the heat to finish in 15:46:57, the second-fastest time ever. Xiang, meanwhile, returned to Western States this year after pacing Hoka teammate Csillag, a Hungarian mom of two who lives in Hong Kong, to run a textbook race and cross the line in the third-fastest women’s time ever of 16:20:03. Csillag turned in another strong performance, finishing third in 16:42:17.
The unprecedented display of speed extended all the way through, and beyond, the top 10 men and women. Tyler Green, who turned 40 this year, captured his fourth top-10 performance in a row with seventh place in 15:09:39, a new master’s course record by 36 minutes. Despite it being an “average hot” (aka hot) year, he was just one minute off his time from last year. Likewise in the women’s race, 42-year-old Ida Nilsson dramatically improved upon last year’s seventh place finish in 17:43:34 to take sixth in 16:56:52. She shattered the women’s master’s course record by 45 minutes.
The 2024 race also witnessed the fastest men’s and women’s 10th place times ever: Chris Myer’s 15:18:25 and Leah Yinglang’s 17:33:54 were both at least 30 minutes faster than the previous tenth place times.
A Bittersweet Golden Hour
In total, 286 of the 375 starters finished the race within the 30-hour cutoff. Those earning belt buckles included Ken Ward from Oregon, who at 67 was the oldest man to finish the race this year. He did so in 29:30:38, earning his 1,000-mile buckle to signify completing the race for the 10th time. Canada’s Iris Cooper earned the double honor of being the oldest woman to finish the race this year, and also the final official finisher. The 65-year-old crossed the line with her smiling crew to the roar of a deafening crowd on the track in 29:56:10—less than four minutes to spare.
As the clock ticked into the final minute of the race, race director Craig Thornley buried his head in his hands at the finish line. Will Barkan from Mill Valley, California, and his crew hit the track with seconds left on the clock. The 40-year-old had just run 100 miles, falling innumerable times, stubbing his toes until they bled, and battling through the heat and a bum knee, in his quest to become the first legally blind runner to finish Western States. As he and his crew sprinted around the 250 meters of mondo to the finish line, the clock hit 30:00:00. He crossed the line in 30:00:33, a heartbreaking 33 seconds too late to earn an official finisher medal.
“I banged my toes up so much today on the downhills. I can feel the blood in my shoes,” Barkan said. “Downhills in the dark are probably the hardest part for me, I lost a lot of time there. But we fought until the very end.”
Barkan, who had a series of guides throughout the race, picked up his fiancé Kim at Green Gate. “There’s zero way I could do this without her,” Barkan said emotionally. “She’s the love of my life and I can’t wait to marry her in September.”
At this point in the interview, 10-time top 10 Western States finisher Andy Jones-Wilkins came over to offer his respect.
“I’ve seen a lot of amazing stuff at Western States, this was the most,” he said.
While Barkan leaves the 2024 race blooded, bruised, and belt-buckle-less, he only offered words of praise for the race.
“I’ve run 25, 26 ultras, and I’ve never had such a warm group of volunteers and all the other runners saying what’s up and ‘Go, Will!’ ‘Celebrity blind guy! What’s your name?!'” Barkan said. “The spirit was very welcoming. The volunteers, oh my goodness. They were just on it. It’s a rate honor to be here, I feel super lucky I got a chance.”
Men’s Results
- Jim Walmsley, 14:13:45
- Rod Farvard, 14:24:15
- Hayden Hawks, 14:24:31
- Dan Jones, 14:3229
- Caleb Olson, 14:4012
- Jon Albon, 14:57:01
- Tyler Green, 15:05:39 (master’s course record)
- Jiasheng Shen, 15:09:49
- Jon Rea, 15:13:10
- Chris Myers, 15:18:25
Women’s Results
- Katie Schide, 15:46:57
- Fuzhao Xiang, 16:20:03
- Eszter Csillag, 16:42:17
- Emily Hawgood, 16:48:43
- Yngvild Kaspersen, 16:50:39
- Ida Nilsson, 16:56:52 (master’s course record)
- Heather Jackson, 17:16:43
- Rachel Drake, 17:28:35
- Pricilla Forgie, 17:30:24
- Leah Yinglang, 17:33:54
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