1999 Western States 100

Rookies Rule at the Western States 100

Winner Scott Jurek, passing through the town of Foresthill at mile 62, 10 hours and 26 minutes into the race

The conventional wisdom that the Western States 100 can only be won by course-savvy veteran runners was shattered on both gender fronts this past weekend. Stunning the ultramarathon world and breaking a 17-year pattern, newcomers Scott Jurek and Suzanne Brana won the men's and women's divisions of the 26th edition of this rugged mountain trail race: Not since Jim King's win in 1982 had a novice Western States runner won either the men's or women's race.

Jurek, a 25-year-old physical therapist from Duluth, Minnesota, held off a late charge from defending champion Tim Twietmeyer of Auburn, California. He led from start to finish, building a 24-minute lead by the 62-mile checkpoint. It was there that Twietmeyer began his late-race surge-- by the 85-mile checkpoint, Twietmeyer was only five minutes behind Jurek. Jurek staved off the challenge, and by the 93-mile checkpoint, his lead had increased to more than six minutes.

At that point, Twietmeyer realized that he was beaten and eased off. But Jurek, not aware of what was happening behind him, continued to press the pace and had increased his lead to 27 minutes by the finish.

"My strategy all along was to build up a time cushion by pushing in the first half of the race," Jurek said. "Twietmeyer is always so strong at the end and this is his home course. I knew I'd need all the cushion I could get."

Twietmeyer, gracious in defeat, said, "I was working a little all day. I decided it was time to put some pressure on him after Foresthill (mile 62) and was able to close the gap quite a bit. But he stabilized and ran like a true champion. In the last part of this race, it's all about how badly you want it. He really showed a lot of heart."

Brana, from San Diego, passed Chico, California's Luanne Park in the 79th mile and held on to the finish for the women's crown. Shari Bashaw from St. Albans, Vermont later passed Park for second, with Park finishing third.

A 41-year-old criminal investigator, Brana became the oldest women's winner in the history of the race. "I started conservatively, but felt smooth and strong all day. I am so respectful of this distance that I felt I just had to run my own race. It worked out great."

Both Jurek and Brana had only run one 100-mile race previously.

Relatively mild temperatures aided all the runners as it never got hotter than 84°F-- about 10 degrees cooler than normal. The obstacles of several miles of snow in the high country and many downed trees in the first 30 miles, however, offset this advantage. In all, 216 of the 334 starters made it to the finish line within the 30-hour time limit.