1999 Western States 100

A Race of Extremes

Summer in the Sierra: Struggling over a snowfield

The race calls for 370 hardcore runners to travel 100 miles across the Sierra Nevada. And the mindboggling distance is the least of their worries.

THE CONDITIONS
When the 370 competitors toe the starting line at Squaw Valley, California, at dawn on Saturday, June 26 for the 26th running of the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run, they will be facing a wide variety of extremes. Of course, running 100 miles at one time is extreme enough, but the distance is only one of the obstacles. There is also high altitude in the first third of the race, where the route crests the Sierra at 8700-foot Emigrant Pass. And searing heat in the second third, in the steep canyons created by the North Fork of the American River, where afternoon temperatures often top 100°F. And finally, numbing fatigue by the final third of the race, where runners must travel the rough trail by flashlight after nightfall. Severe terrain (more than 18,000 vertical feet of ascent and almost 23,000 feet of descent), several miles of running through melting snow banks, waist-deep river crossings, and rock-strewn trails, combined with potential hazards such as bears, mountain lions and rattlesnakes make Western States one of the most challenging of all endurance events.

THE FINISH
By midnight, only a handful of competitors will have made it to the finish line in the gold-rush town of Auburn, California, on the other side of the Sierras. By dawn on Sunday—24 hours into the race—only about one-eighth of the field will have finished. Over the following six hours until the 30-hour time limit, perhaps half of the entrants will complete their own personal victory lap. So demanding is this event that even though most runners train upward of 80 miles per week, only about 60 percent of the starting field will make it to the finish.

THE COMPETITORS
Western States is the unofficial world trail ultramarathon championship and attracts an international field. Defending champion and five-time winner Tim Twietmeyer, who lives in the finish-line town of Auburn, California returns to defend his crown. He will be challenged by World 100K road champion Valmir Nunes from Brazil, Leadville 100 winner Steve Peterson from Colorado, Mark Hartell and Mark McDermott from Britain, and veteran Californian ultrarunners Rick Simonsen, Dave Scott and Tom Nielsen.

Ann Trason, who has won this race an astounding ten consecutive years, will not be competing this year, leaving the women's race wide open. France's Corinne Favre, Germany's Helga Backhaus, Janice Anderson from Georgia, and a slew of Californians including Suzie Lister, Luanne Park and Jennifer Devine are the top contenders for the women's title.