1999 Western States 100

A Chat with Tim Twietmeyer

Tim Twietmeyer, King of the Ultramarathon

The five-time Western States champ takes a quick break from his race preparations to share a few thoughts on the upcoming event.

Q. What are you looking forward to this year?

TT: Well, first of all, running the regular course again. [Last year, due to the El Niño winter, the snowfall was so heavy that the race had to be re-routed between 24 and 40 miles.] I have actually trained less than normal this year—I had a two-week business trip to Europe in the middle of my normal heavy training period. My knee is less than 100% right now, but I think it will be OK. I hope it's not a scorcher. A 90-degree day would be OK, but if it’s much hotter than that it turns into a death march for everybody.

Q. What are you dreading?

TT: Nothing, really. You just can’t go into it with the attitude that you are dreading some part of the race. It’s just too hard. Too much stuff is going to happen. A lot of the challenge is dealing with things that go wrong. You know something is going to go wrong—you just don’t know what it will be, or where.

Q. Who do you view as your primary competition?

TT: There’s some new guys and some old guys. The veterans—Dave Scott, Rick Simonsen—they’re always tough. Corinne (Favre) could be up with the top guys again. She has a better idea of what the race is about after last year. [Favre withdrew after 93,2 miles in '98] Scott Jurek, Dave Terry, (Valmir) Nunes, (Steve) Peterson. It will be interesting to see how they do. Usually guys don’t do too well the first time they try Western States. But, sometimes it’s better not to know what’s coming next.

Q. To what do you attribute your success at Western States?

TT: Knowing the course and being able to run well in the heat. Knowing where to push and how hard, and when to back off. It's all about who can run well at the end. A real key is being able to manage the whole eating and drinking thing late in the race. You need to get enough into you, but not too much. You're body is teetering on this delicate edge and you want to keep from falling off either side. It always turns into a personal struggle at the end, regardless of who's around you.