Ultrarunners have a short memory.

No matter the exhaustion, blisters, and nausea, after you cross the finish line, you’re left with the euphoria of accomplishment.

This runner’s amnesia seems to extend beyond the act of ultrarunning itself to the sport writ large.

After a shaky start to the year on this side of the pond culminating with UTMB standouts Kilian Jornet and Zach Miller calling for a UTMB boycott, the global race series has once again secured its place as the foremost circuit for both elites and recreational ultra runners around the world.

At the very least, a tacit display of community acceptance will be on prominent display this weekend at the Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB on April 26-27 in Auburn, California, the self-proclaimed “endurance capital of the world.” More than 2,500 runners will toe the starting lines of the marquee 100K, 100-mile, 50K, and 25K races—all of which are sold out and include some of the highest-caliber elite runners from North America and beyond, many of whom will be looking to qualify for the season’s championship events.

“The Canyons 100k field looks just as deep and talented as expected. Which is fantastic because that’s exactly why I chose this race,” said Erin Clark, the 2023 Lake Sonoma 50-mile winner. “One of my values in this sport is showing up and not being afraid to race the best athletes, even if it means you get beat. Im looking forward to the challenge.”

At the pointy end of the spear, the community’s relationship with UTMB is undoubtedly bolstered by its special affiliation with the Western States 100, the prestigious, hot and fast race, along some of these same trails two months later. The Canyons 100K serves as the final Hoka Golden Ticket race of the year, meaning that the top two finishers in the men’s and women’s categories will earn those final coveted spots into 2024 Western States on June 29.

“I love this area of California and have a lot of great memories here,” said Eric LiPuma, who finished 3rd in the 50K last year, qualifying for CCC where he placed 17th. He’s back to race the 100K this weekend. “The loaded field combined with the new downhill course really makes it feel like a miniature Western States.”

Beyond the allure of qualifying for Western States, elites and top age groupers still have high stakes on the line. As the UTMB World Series Americas Major, Canyons offers the top 10 finishers for men and women in the 100-mile, 100K, and 50K an automatic entry into the equivalent UTMB World Series Finals race (100-mile UTMB, 100K CCC, or 50K OCC) in Chamonix, France, later this summer. Top age groupers will also receive a bib, for a total of 210 automatic entries up for grabs this weekend. And all finishers will earn double “stones,” or points, for the 2025 UTMB lottery. A 25K, worth two “running stones,” rounds out this weekend’s offerings.

Indeed, the prevailing sentiment from elites racing this weekend is that Canyons is a stepping stone for other UTMB-affiliated events, primarily Western States and the UTMB finals. Canyon Woodword, who took 3rd in the 100-miler last year, earning an entry into UTMB du Mont-Blanc where he finished as the 28th man, 29th overall, is back as a favorite in the 100-miler that almost shares his name. When asked if he’s focused on Canyons in its own right this year or as an entry point into UTMB he said, “Very much the latter.”

RELATED: Hoka Elevates Its Support of UTMB to Become New Title Sponsor

The Brand New 2024 Course 

Knock on wood, this year’s races will involve a lot less last-minute logistical MacGyvering than last year, when record-breaking snowfall (651 inches—54 feet—on Donner Pass) and the 2022 Mosquito wildfire (which burned more than 76,000 acres of forest from the town of Foresthill up to the edge of the Sierra Crest near Olympic Valley) forced course reroutes.

Mother Nature has acted a bit more predictably this year, meaning runners in the 100K and 100-mile races will get to compete on brand-new courses.

The 100K is the reverse of the 2022 edition of the race, with the added descent and climb from Devils Thumb to Swinging Bridge, and looks quite similar to the final 100K of Western States.

Like Western States itself, the Canyons 100K, which starts at 5 A.M. on Saturday, is net downhill—4,000 feet of it. But there’s still 13,000 feet of climbing in the notorious canyons for which this race is named. Those come in the middle third of the race, after a quad-banging 8.5 miles with a 2,000-foot drop from the start at China Wall, high in the Sierra at 5,000 feet.

At that point, runners intersect with the Western States course and actually backtrack up toward the Western States’ start in Olympic Valley, climbing over Devil’s Thumb to Swinging Bridge, before retracing their steps and hitting the canyons and iconic Western States aid stations—Michigan Bluff, Foresthill, and Cal Street. Expect a lot of shifting gears between grindy climbs and quick descents, with numerous river crossings at the bottom.

The final 20 relatively cruisy miles take runners past Driver’s Flat, to Mammoth Bar, and over to the Confluence Trail (not on the Western States course) to No Hands Bridge. After crossing No Hands, there’s just one final kick in the teeth to Robie Point before hitting the streets of Auburn that lead to the finish in the historic downtown—spitting distance from the Western States finish on the Placer High School track.

The 100-mile race, which starts at 9 A.M. on Friday, looks identical to the 100K—with the addition of the punchy K2 climb at No Hands, which takes runners over to a series of four loops around Cool, California for a total of 18,000 feet of vert and 22,000 feet of descent.

Identical to last year, the 50K and 25K courses both start and end in downtown Auburn and take runners on a fast, rolling lollipop along the American River for a total of 5,600 and 2,800 feet of vert, respectively.

Who to Watch

100K, April 27, 5 A.M.

Headlining the stacked women’s 100K field is 2023 Western States runner-up Katie Schide. While she’s already qualified for the 2024 Western States thanks to her top-10 finish last year, the American expat who lives in France will be using Canyons as a tune-up and an opportunity to re-familiarize herself with the Western States terrain.

Since winning the 2022 UTMB Mont Blanc, Schide has proven nearly insurmountable at everything from 50K to 100 miles. She took second to ultrarunning GOAT Courtney Dauwalter at States last summer—finishing under course-record time—before another second place at a loaded OCC last summer. She recently won the lactate-crushing Vertical Kilometer at Transgrancanaria.

But with just eight weeks until Western States, will Schide want the win as much as the likes of fellow States vets Addie Bracy (5th at the Canyons 100K last year, 9th at the 2019 Western States), Amanda Basham (4th at States in 2016 and 2018), Erin Clark (2nd and Golden Ticket winner at the 2022 Bandera 100K), or Riley Brady (2nd at the Golden Ticket race 2022 Javelina Jundred 100-miler), many of whom are on the hunt for a Golden Ticket?

“Chasing a Golden Ticket this season has been hard! There tends to be so much hype around these events, which can be stressful,” said Brady, who is nonbinary and competes in the women’s division. Canyons will be their third 2024 Golden Ticket race after finishing 3rd at the 2023 Javelina Jundred 100-miler in October and 9th at Black Canyons in February. “Plus, the uncertainty of whether Canyons was going to let me, and many others, in added a little twist to the ticket hunt.”

Clark, who was sidelined for much of last year due to injury, expressed a similar concoction of feelings.

“I’m nervous,” she said. “There’s a fair amount of uncertainty that comes with not having raced for a while, but mostly I’m excited to get back out there and not taking any opportunities for granted.”

While many Golden Ticket races reserve spots for elites to jump into the event last-minute as they chase auto-entries into States, Canyons, a UTMB event, did not this year. Some elites, including Brady, found out they were accepted into the race about a month ago.

The States veterans will be joined by 50K and sub-ultra specialist EmKay Sullivan, who took third in the 50K here last year before finishing ninth at the 2023 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships 45K in Innsbruck, Austria, last June. She DNFed from the Black Canyons 100K, her 100K debut, in February. Fellow shorter distance specialist Megan Roche has withdrawn from the race.

Anna McKenna, who took 8th at Black Canyons, is back for another crack at a Golden Ticket, along with Anna Kacius, Shea Aquilano, Arden Young, Jade Belzberg, and many more elites vying for those final spots into the big dance.

Led by 2022 Western States champ Adam Peterman, the men’s race is no less stacked. After a pelvic stress fracture left him on the sidelines last year, Peterman will be attempting to race his way back into States and an opportunity to reclaim his cougar trophy. Since transitioning from a collegiate career in cross country and track to trail running in 2019, he’s never lost on ultra.

Those most likely to give Peterman a run for his money are Sweden’s Petter Engdahl, who won CCC in 2022 before DNFing from UTMB in 2023; Western States powerhouse Drew Holmen, who took 3rd in 2021 and 5th in 2022 before forgoing his automatic entry to focus on the World Championships 87K last summer, where he took 5th; and Eric Lipuma, who finished 7th at the last two World Champs distance races and recently added another 7th place to his name at Black Canyons.

“I feel really good about coming back to Canyons this year,” LiPuma said. “My main reason for being here is for a Golden Ticket, but it would also be nice to get my 2025 UTMB qualification out of the way since I’m already in CCC for 2024.”

Knocking on their doors could be Matt Daniels, who, when he’s on, is nearly untouchable (4th at 2019 Western States) and when he’s off has been known to DNF (2021 Western States) and to grind it out to the finish. (A year ago, Daniels turned himself inside out in the Canyons 100K in unseasonably high heat, finishing 9th and requiring medical attention immediately after.) After a string of stellar performances across shorter distances this year, including 2nd at the Chuckanut 50K and 1st at the Gorge Waterfalls 30K, can he hold it together for 100K?

They’ll be joined by the likes of States vets Cody Lind, Stephen Kersh, Rod Farvard, and J.P. Giblin.

100 Miles, April 26, 9 A.M.

While all eyes will be on Saturday’s 100K, by then 100-mile runners will be nearing the end of their quest to earn spots into UTMB. Top contenders for the women’s podium include Jacquie Mannhard, who won the 2023 Leadville 100; Elena Horten, who recently won the Black Canyons 50K; and Mercedes Vince, who took 4th at the 2023 Kodiak by UTMB 100-miler.

After a DNF last year, professional paralympic athlete Amy Palmiero-Winters, 51, is back to finish what she started—and then some. The below-knee amputee, who ran Western States in 27:43:10 in 2010, hopes to once again qualify for America’s most iconic 100-miler.

“The Canyons 100-mile race holds immense significance for me. Not only is it revered as the birthplace of trail running, but it’s also where I crossed the Western States finish line, one of my earliest 100-mile races,” Palmiero-Winters wrote on Instagram. “There’s a part of me that’s eager to complete the merging of The Canyons/Western States story and punctuate it with an exclamation point. Though crossing the finish line at The Canyons will not get me a golden ticket to the Western States, a girl can still dream, and I’m determined to make every step count toward that aspiration.”

The men’s race could see a head-to-head battle between Zachary Garner, who recently won the Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50-mile race after taking first at The Bear 100-miler last fall, and Canyon Woodward, who led this race last year for the first 100K until a series of course marking snafus led him off course and he finished 3rd. If either of them misstep, Canada’s Nicholas Lightbody, who won the 2022 Whistler Alpine Meadows 100K, may be poised to take the lead.

“I’m excited for this one. I’m in the best shape of my life and just ready to enter that flow of race day and be present with the trail, the rhythm, the incredible privilege of getting to share this with my crew,” Woodward said. “I really feel like this race has my name written all over it.”

50K, April 27, 6 A.M.

The 50K pits some of the best shorter distance ultrarunners against each other, starting with Jennifer Lichter, who took 4th at the World Champs 45K last summer and most recently won the JFK 50-miler in November; Dani Moreno, 2023 Kodiak 50K winner and 3rd at the 2022 OCC; and Tabor Hemming, who recently showed off her fitness by winning The Big Alta 28K.

While she entered this race hoping to fly under the radar in a discipline outside of her bread and butter on the roads, 2020 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist Molly Seidel will bump up in distance (by 4.8 miles) to run her first 50K after missing the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon on February 3 due to a knee injury. Racing under the pseudonym “Molly Shapiro,” Seidel took second at the steep and slightly more technical Speedgoat 28K last July. Assuming she’s in form, the buttery, undulating trails at Canyons should suit her well.

Coming off a stellar showing on the Golden Trail World Series circuit last year and decisive wins at the Big Alta 50K and Black Canyons 60K this winter, Eli Hemming headlines the men’s race. The best of the rest include Chad Hall (1st at the 2023 Kodiak 50K), Kiwi Daniel Jones, who’s bumping down in distance as he preps for another top-five finish at States; and hometown hero Cole Watson, also prepping for States after his 9th place (10th overall) last year. Slovakia’s Peter Frano and Seth Ruling, coming off a DNF at the Transgrancanaria 126K, will also vie for podium spots on a good day.

How to Watch 

Catch the action starting at 7:30 A.M. PT (11:30 A.M. ET) on April 27. The Canyons by UTMB broadcast will be free to watch on Outside TV. If you’re out running and miss the live action, no sweat. Outside+ members can watch the full replay on Outside TV as well, as well as all of your favorite UTMB races from last year.

Watch the Canyons by UTMB Livestream