2026 Western States 100 Recap

Two course records, a rookie champion, and a men's podium almost nobody predicted. Brett Hornig and Leah Yingling join me in Auburn to recap the 2026 Western States 100: Vincent Bouillard clawing back from ten minutes down at Forest Hill, Jennifer Lichter winning in her first 100-miler, the deepest women's top 10 in race history, plus buy-or-sell and our biggest questions for next year.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Norda is the official footwear partner of our 2026 Western States 100 coverage. All the rage of this summer is the imminent release of their new model, the 055. The shoe that Rachel entered and wore start to finish and route to her course record victory at the Cocodona 250 earlier this year. Go check it out at NordaRun.com and make sure you are subscribed to their mailing list to get exclusive early access to the shoe. I put a bunch of training miles in it. We are back. This is the final episode. It's concluding our 2026 Western States 100 coverage. I gotta say a couple things before we get into it. First, we talked about them in our men's previous limit through episodes, but we have a wine sponsor for this whole week, thanks to Brett Hornick Lone Madrone Wines. You wanna say a few words?

SPEAKER_00 0:48

I'm just so glad that it came about. Have I been promoted or relegated to the horseshoe microphone? I think promoted. I kind of think we should just take these home, pay whatever lossage fee we need to, and do this for Western states. Um Lone Madrone Winery. They're big fans of the sport. Trail and Ultra. They make great wine. I think by the end of the week we can all conclude that or say so very conclusively. Yes. I was satisfied. Yeah, Team Rose all day. I like the Zen. The Zen was great, yeah, because we we do eat dinner. And you gotta have dinner with some Zinfidel. So uh yeah, just a big thank you to Lone Madrone and go check them out.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

And Brett totally hooked that up. So thank you, Brett.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

I'm just glad that worked.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

And I gotta give you guys both thanks. We we had a lot of great interviews, previous shows, recaps this week, and you two are the best. Can't thank you enough. And uh yeah, just just huge thanks. I know we've done a lot of these over the years, but it keeps getting more fun and becomes like a family reunion.

SPEAKER_03 2:01

So excited for next year already.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Oh, we got shaman. Yeah. Couple months. Six, seven weeks. So running it back. We get to run it back. But uh okay. Getting into the recap of this uh this year's Western States, Brett, for you, just like overarching top takeaway.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

The very uh tippy top of the sport continued to uh follow the trend of the rest of running. Like you know, we'll talk about the overall depth and how the fields played out, but at the very tippy top, we're still seeing like just things get shattered.

SPEAKER_03 2:40

Yeah. For me, I think it was what a great weather year for fast times. And I think more importantly, was the women's top ten. The women's top ten was man, like 50 minutes faster than any other women's top ten in Western states history, and we did not necessarily see that same impact on the men's side. So I think women kind of characteristically showed that they race a bit smart, a little less carnage there, some carnage, but less carnage, and yeah, we just saw them get so fast.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

My hand is orange.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

So just for some more context, I was looking for something to put this DGI mic onto, and we found these horseshoes at the Airbnb, and I showed Brett the combo, and he was immediately enamored, so I was like, I was gonna take it, but mild regrets.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Make sure you got your tetanus shot. Yeah, turns out it's tetanus.

SPEAKER_02 3:40

So I I'd say my takeaway, my headline is expect the unexpected, and I feel like somehow I I know I think I know less about the sport than I did coming into this year's race, and I I guess I don't know exactly what it takes to win Western States anymore. Like there's just like if I look at the two podiums, it's a mix of fitness and self-belief, uh, hustle. I I just don't know what parts of the equation matter more, or if you can just like over-index in one of them, and that gets you there. I'm just I think I'm just confused right now.

SPEAKER_03 4:15

What do you think is most confusing for you from this year's Western States?

SPEAKER_02 4:23

I'm gonna say this in the most positive way I can because I I mean it positively. Ryan Montgomery's performance shocked me.

SPEAKER_03 4:30

Yeah, I I think something I've been saying amongst our group is I'd be curious to see if anybody out there who was making race predictions, whether that was within your friend groups or on fantasy free trail, like if anybody had the men's podium in the order that it occurred. I would guess nobody did. We gotta ask Travis. Yeah, that's a kind of a random in some way podium combination uh for Western states, given who else was racing in the race, I think.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Yeah, and so yeah, I mean obviously Ryan is a fantastic runner. He's experienced here. Is it multiple top tens? Multiple top tens, yeah. Multiple top tens, but to make that leap from like the seven to or like the six to nine-ish position into the podium, but also to run a 90-minute PR. Huge. Amazing. Amazing. So all the kudos in the world to Ryan. I was blown away, and um maybe that's the equation of like a little a lot of talent, but also like just that self-belief where like you're not going to just label yourself as like a back of the top ten type runner.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Yeah, because he did it the way that we've like said that's this is how you have to podium. Yes, you know, like aggressive from the start, you know, was over the escarpment. First? First. Yeah. First. Um yeah, and then just in the in the podium spot all day, and then like no one no one ran up on him. And so then it's like, yeah, that over the course of when was the when would we say the podiums were pretty decided? Rucky Chucky? Rucky Chucky. Yeah, so like 80 miles, 80 miles of racing before it started to shake out a little bit, but it wasn't anyone that was tenth or even like seventh or eighth. It was all within that top four or five.

SPEAKER_03 6:22

And like they were still racing amongst themselves, um, on both the men's and the women's side at the river. I think it was the closest the podiums had ever been at the river in race history, which is pretty wild to think. There's a lot of years of race history at Western States, and the races in recent years have been extremely competitive. So to think that that racing was still going on amongst the top three at that point is pretty bonkers.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

Takeaways from our two champions, Von Sant and Jen Lichter. Maybe starting with you, Leah, with Jen, takeaways with her performance.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

I'm just so inspired by Jen's level of self-belief. And I, you know, you said at the top of the episode, like this special combination of fitness, self-belief, and a couple other variables, and I think Jen has it all and executed a near-perfect, if not perfect, day. And I think it's because all of those elements came together, and I think she knows herself so well, like she knows what her strengths are, and she knows how to play to those strengths in the context of a race. I think I was surprised by how challenged Jen was by other people throughout the race. And I think we saw a lot of people pushing the pace early on. Um, you know, and that pace was comfortable for Jen. Maybe it wasn't so comfortable for other people running with her, but I was surprised that people were in the mix for as long as they were. And to see Jen just stay in steady gear all day long, and then once they learned Riley was pretty close later on, like being able to have that second and third gear to crank it into was I mean, I think that's just impress and really impressive racing.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Yeah, it kind of blows my mind that Jen had a reserve gear and was able to feel that out like the whole first 80 miles in a way to still know I have a reserve gear when they've never run that far before.

SPEAKER_03 8:17

Yeah. I think that's the part that's blowing my mind is Jen raced like a complete veteran, but I think what was on her side was not being a veteran. And I think that's something she alluded to in our uh post-race interview, or at least in a post-race conversation, was she thinks the fact that she didn't know like the aftermath of 100 miles, she didn't know like you know how bad it can get in a hundred miles, that like she just kind of raced with like without any of those thoughts, like let's give what I have right now and like not thinking about a potential blow-up or anything like that. And I think that served her so well in just taking risks and being like very comfortable taking those risks.

SPEAKER_02 8:57

Do you think Jen is special, or do you think that uh her example this year will make future rookies at this distance in race more aggressive in their goals?

SPEAKER_00 9:11

I don't know anything anymore. I mean, so I I didn't think I didn't really think we'd ever see someone who is a rookie at the distance and this race win it on their first try because of how much we've harped on experience and just like the seasoning that you benefit from. I have a question.

SPEAKER_03 9:31

I have a question though for that. Like, can you know it as a newbie to the distance if you're surrounded by people and a team who are veterans? Because I think that's where Jen benefited here. She trains with Adam Peterman, Jeff McGavro. She's coached by Fitz, who has like mega experience with like athletes at this race. So I'm wondering if she just had a perfect combination of people around her. But then also obviously she's put in the time and work with like huge blocks of training and just like confidence.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

Yeah, that that might actually be the big takeaway is that there is are they teams? Like what are they teaching? The teams, training groups, uh cohorts of runners that are that also know enough of like the Western State success playbook to actually paint a really good picture of what success looks like there when before it was like still kind of a muddy picture. You know, you might be able to look at it and be like, yeah, I get that, and then turns out you finished the race and you're like, I was looking at it upside down.

SPEAKER_03 10:38

Yeah, I think I was just glancing at Jen's Strava from her race uh before we started recording, and she had m about ten minutes of stop time during the race. And I think that speaks to experience. And that's what the shoe chain is. That's what the shoe chain is. It could have been shorter. I think that's a having a team that knows what they're doing too. A team who's experienced at Western States and like got her in and out as well. And yeah, I think if somebody didn't have the experience of the team and the crews around them and this was their first western states, yeah, it might take them more than one try to nail it.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

Yeah, that's a great point. Another thing that I'm thinking about now is essentially like her coach and crew that she used, this was not their first western states. Like, how nice would it be if you had a crew during your first western states when it it was their fifth western states? And they could just be like, oh, we already, I know you're saying this, but we ought to do it this way because we already figured out that that doesn't work. Or we're gonna crew you here instead of there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:38

That that actually was an important point. Can you talk about the forest till crewing, for example, because I think you were you kind of had some eyes on that since you were post uh pacing another CTS athlete.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

And as far as I know, this is the first time that really got implemented. And interest so the forest till aid station is very, very long. And we took a big deep dive through every piece of literature on the Western States website regarding like the rules, the legalities, like where can you be able to have crew, but they cannot be moving from the top of Bath Road, somewhere from the top of Bath Road, which is three-quarters of a mile before the actual Forest Hill Elementary School aid station. Um, so they can be anywhere from that spot, or they can be from Forest Hill Elementary all the way to the start of Cal Street, which is probably another half mile. Historically, all the crews have been after the aid station. But what CTS did was they put their tent as close to the top of Bath Road as they could. And I think the idea behind this was uh on a really hot year, you could get all your crew, cool off, start running again. You actually like drain some of the water, heat up a little bit, then go through the main aid station, cool off again. Whereas if they're 100 meters apart, it's not as effective, but they're a couple minutes apart. So you get just like an extra little like kind of pseudo two aid stations. You also in a B crew too, like those two teams spread out. No, you can only be crewed by one.

SPEAKER_03 13:18

So you'd go through like the races aid station as the second one.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

Yeah, you cannot be crewed twice at Forest Hill. That is against the rules. Um interestingly, Hoka set up their crew spot for all the HOCA athletes just a little bit down from the CTS tent. So they were thinking the same thing and had the same thing set up. It's also a little bit more private up there, so perhaps there's conversations you're having with your coach or crew members that you don't want the other crews to hear because people are listening for that now. Um so then like I I was pacing Will Murray, so you know, he got all of his crew stuff at the CTS tent. And then I got to start running with him at the top of Bath Road. So, you know, I ran with him for an extra three-quarters of a mile then where pacers normally pick up the runners, which was helpful to just kind of get a gauge on like where he was and pacing-wise how he was feeling. But uh, yeah, it was an interesting tactic and actually seemed it seemed kind of nice. Here to stay, you think? Yeah, I don't see why not. Especially because uh like from the Forest Hill, like uh the main race aid station to Cal Street. That's just fans now. Like it was ten people deep. That was the most crowded I've ever seen Forest Hill. It was insane. It was wild. Yeah, like when I was running down with Will, we were shoulder to shoulder. We wouldn't have been able to fit a third person. Like there's the runner cam was in front of us or behind us because it was all the way down to it was like a big climb in the tour where everyone's just going into the middle of the road and you're just running wherever there's not people. It was sick, it was really cool.

SPEAKER_02 14:57

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SPEAKER_00 17:05

I think that might have been Von Sant's veteran savvy playing in a little bit, because he ran a course tracker 1344. He was ten minutes back at Forest Hill. To me, that just seems that the people in front of him were going too fast.

SPEAKER_03 17:23

I think so. I think so because I think Von Sant knows he knows how to race like strategically. And I think he like I mean it it seemed on the surface like he knows how to run truly his own race. And I think that like that early pace was so hot. I'm curious if you guys feel similarly, but it appeared to me that Hans just like blew the field up in some ways. Like Hans said it was early. I'm impressed that Von Sant felt like, yeah, maybe that is a little too hot for me, and I'm gonna stay where I'm at, and I think it served him so well later on because then he was just able to hunt people down.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

It's interesting you mentioned like he's really good at running his own race. When he won UTMB, he ran his own race, but he was in the front super early on and he just ran his own race. Yeah, and I guess kind of what I'm trying to get is like it doesn't matter where he is placewise. It doesn't seem like the other people really influence uh his moves.

SPEAKER_03 18:22

Do you think um we as prognosticators do like like treated him in a way that like his DNF last year impacted our belief in him quite a bit?

SPEAKER_00 18:36

Yeah, uh well that and his Chianti wasn't that good, which we speculated was that an all-out race effort, or was he just racing to get a golden ticket, which always feels risky because anything can happen, like what if you just don't have a good day, now you're in second, you lose one spot, you're out of it. Or was he that confident in his ability that he was like, oh no, I know I could get you know second and just outkick third by one second no matter what? I'm starting to think it was maybe that.

SPEAKER_02 19:13

I also think U Timby in Western states are very different races, it's just different types of fitness, different types of gear. Uh there's just differences across the board. So um I had questions there. Also, I've I had I'd heard through the grapevine that like in successive offseasons there's been like illnesses and like injuries that have interrupted his training, and so I kinda you never at least I never knew exactly where he was at heading into Western.

SPEAKER_03 19:40

And a a relatively new child, too. Yeah, existed.

SPEAKER_02 19:42

New father. New father. Um, but I think maybe the mo the other impressive element of this victory for me was no pacers. Yeah. He does have no paces, which is incredible. I also was wondering, after learning about that, like, does Francesco Poopy go on to win this race if he takes a pacer at Forest Hill or at least at Greengate? Um, if you're the type of person that believes pacers are a competitive advantage.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

Yeah, I feel like it seems like neither of them believe that. Um both of them doing more European racing where there's not pacers, that's probably just it it would probably be more distracting for them to have pacers uh than to not. Since like that's the only style of racing they're really used to.

SPEAKER_02 20:35

Um other thoughts on the top tens, women's top ten. Any any performances, Leah, that you want to highlight or just general trends, insights?

SPEAKER_03 20:43

Yeah, I think I mean kind of top to bottom, Jen Lichter course record was astounding. Um, second place Riley Brady. You know, we've said a few times before, Riley has these big swings and either nails it or has a kind of rough day for them. And I would categorize this as nailing it for Riley, like in the race all day long, even in the race on sections where probably relatively are not a strength for Riley, maybe some of the high country. I think Riley was served really well from having a great weather day out there. And I will say I was a bit surprised to be on the ground at Robinson Flat and see Riley roll into Robinson Flat like within seconds of Jen Lichter. And I was so excited to see that because I felt like if Riley arrived at Michigan Bluff with some legs and ready to go, that like we would see a race because Riley can rage on Cal Street and in that final 20 miles. And I'm really happy we saw Jen have some pressure because I actually think that led Jen to have the day that she had, and then gave Riley somebody to chase all day and get the most out of them. So just like remarkable performance by Riley as well.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

Yeah, we had always wondered like what. Riley's ceiling. Not to say that this is their ceiling, but we've always been curious like what happens when Riley puts together like a performance at Western States that's similar to a a Javelina win, a Black Canyon win. Totally.

SPEAKER_03 22:16

Yeah, and I like personally started to believe does Riley just have a specific course that they thrive on, and that's Black Canyon and Havelina. And I know we saw Riley have a great performance at Run Rabbit last year, but I think this Western States, those Havelina and Black Canyon, those were like quite different performances than Run Rabbit. So to see Western states come together in that way was yeah, I was impressed.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

You know who else in the top ten had kind of a perplexing and surprising race for me was uh Fuja.

SPEAKER_04 22:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

They were uh 18th at Immigrant Pass, and then move even at what well, there's a lot of missing.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

Yeah, but the track the bib started to go bad right around Robinson Flat I think.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

Yeah. Okay. And then um yeah, there's a whole bunch of 13th at Cal 3 still.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

Huh.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

And then to finish seventh.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

Moved up six spots.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Yeah, I like I I don't really understand that though. Like I wanna like I would love to hear a deeper breakdown on the race because it seems like Fuzia's gone very conservatively in the past.

SPEAKER_03 23:25

And that was like this seemed very conservative. At Robinson Platt, Fujiao was quite a ways back, and time-wise, especially. Yeah. And I I heard in some pre-race previews that Fuziao like starts really conservative, like doesn't really get warmed up until like maybe the 50 mile mark. Um but I felt like Fujian didn't even get warmed up until like the 60 to 70 mile mark. Um you know what's interesting too, comparing this year and last year's women's field, is Fuziao was second place here at Western States last year, and her second place finish time would not even place in the top ten this year. So I yeah, I guess there's Abby's first place time last year would have been ninth place this year in the women's field. Hannah Allgood improved by 50 minutes and was ninth. Yeah, was four places lower.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

Wow. One thing that I was uh so deepest top ten on the women's side by a huge margin. I mean, yeah, uh Hannah Allgood was sixteen forty-five. Uh yeah, it's sixteen forty-five, and prior to that it was the year you got tenth? Yeah. In seventeen. Usually after about tenth or eleventh place, there's a huge gap in time. That didn't happen this year because you know, usually the incentive to keep racing hard as an elite starts to diminish a little bit after you're outside the top ten, but it stayed like pretty steady every couple minutes someone's coming in all the way through about 17th. Yeah, so just hard hard racing for the sake of racing.

SPEAKER_02 25:05

I think a woman break 18 hours. That's wild. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:08

Yeah, like like that's just like for for what? Like just for for for racing.

SPEAKER_03 25:14

Well, yeah, that brings up an interesting point because we saw Ingvil Kasperson, uh, who was running in the top ten for the entire day, she actually dropped out at Roby Point, which is 1.1, 1.2 miles from the finish. Oh my god. And I don't know if we've seen that in like the elite women's field ever.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Yeah, it sounded like kind of like a total shutdown of the body.

SPEAKER_03 25:37

But it it does make me think, like, did Ingvilde, when her body was shutting down, did she fall out of the top ten, and therefore, like, felt like there was no reason to will her body or her body just couldn't physically get down to the finish line.

SPEAKER_02 25:53

Because for example, at Coca-Dona just a few weeks back, we saw Heather Jackson basically park at Trinity Heights, which is three miles from the finish, slept there for I want to say it was five or six hours, and then continued on. So I wonder, like, could she have could she have slept? Was it was it so bad that she had to unplug right there?

SPEAKER_00 26:11

I don't know. Yeah, and the only reason you're doing that is to finish the race at that point, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 26:18

And that's gotta be an interesting feeling for whoever's in 11th place at that point, to then come up to Roby Point and thinking you might be in like a pretty certified 11th place position, and then to learn that there was a drop right ahead of you.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

Yeah, what place was Ingvilde in at that point?

SPEAKER_03 26:32

I think she was in the in that like 8-10 position.

SPEAKER_02 26:35

While you're looking, two comments for me, then I want to throw 7th.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

And then 10th at Roby Point.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

That's wild. Um, okay, two comments, and then I want to throw you guys, I think, a fun question. First, uh, if if you had told me Tara Dower was gonna run 16-13 this year, I mean I would be thinking possibly podium potential. She finishes sixth, and now I'm so curious uh how she fares at Hard Rock in two weeks. That's a really, really fast time, really impressive performance.

SPEAKER_03 27:04

Yeah. Something I appreciate about Tara's race there at Western States is like she did not hold back whatsoever. Yeah. She ran Western States, like Western States was the only race on her calendar this year. And I'm sure she will do the exact same at Hard Rock. And who knows what kind of like fatigue she'll be experiencing there. But I know that Tara got everything out of her. This was one of the first finish lines that I've been at in person that I did not see Tara like sprint her body across the finish line. Like she was kind of shuffling in that last hundred meters, and then actually ended up like walking across the finish line. And I think that speaks to Tara's how Tara got everything out of herself out there.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

This next point cues up a fun question. So Marian Hogan had now has three podiums in the last six years at Western States, this time finishing in 1551. She's a prime example of just like adjusting whatever it takes to like basically stay relevant in in a new era. Um, really impressive performance. And it as I thought about her time and place here, the question I want to pose to you guys is from this woman's top 10, or could be outside of the top 10, who is the next winner of Western states? Which which person in this field, assuming Jen Lichter doesn't come back to defend, do you think is the most primed to win Western next year?

SPEAKER_03 28:26

I'm not gonna answer your question because I have a more interesting thought. I don't know. I think we're going to see an entirely different race out of Caitlin Fielder next year. Okay. So I think Caitlin Fielder has now run two races where she's played it relatively safe. And this year again was one of them. And she ended up running down the field to a fourth place finish after being like 13th. What was it? 13th at um mile 34, so just after Robinson Flat, Miller's defeat area, and then moved up to fourth place by the finish. I think she's now kind of run these calculated races at Western States and has that 100-mile experience under her belt. I think she'll run a race way more like Jen Lichter next time. And Caitlin Fielder is somebody that I put on the same level as like Ruth Croft. Like she's kind of run stride for stride with Ruth for some time, and Ruth's another person that you know I could see back at the front of this race in like this era of women here. So I think next year Caitlin Fielder could very well be a champ by running it in a very different way.

SPEAKER_00 29:29

I just was like, oh, I don't see why it wouldn't be Riley. It's just like second place. Um I'm sure Riley would be looking to improve on that result, and now all you have to do is look for one more place. I was thinking too, you know, sometimes there's a bit of a transition period um when you get a new sponsor, just kind of like learning how to operate within that ecosystem. Riley's been an ACG athlete for a little over a year now, right? Because Riley signed with ACG right before Western States usher. So I'm curious if there's just um an extra level of comfort, you know, being an ACG, working with that crew, but you know, trusting that like they're taking care of you and they have the best intentions and because you know sponsor pressure is one of the things we hear most commonly about you know why people do particular races or maybe should have shouldn't have done a particular race. So I'm curious if that year over year um can you know helped Riley a lot, and if it's just one more year, additional year of being with the same sponsor, having just that familiarity, that could lead to a little bit more consistency.

SPEAKER_02 30:42

I like the Riley pick. I like the Caitlin Fielder pick too. Uh for me it's body brings fifth place here, six improvement, massive improvement after a 14th place two years ago, was it 2015? Um yeah, I think we were wondering collectively up front in the previews, like just how much can veterans come in and knock off times to stay competitive. I think this was a great step. I think there were actually probably some moments from the river on where even thinking about podium was in sight. Uh so yeah. I felt good about Lottie coming in. I think I feel even better if she comes back next year. Let's do overall Mansfield top 10 impressions. Brett, I mean you paced one of them. You you guided one of them to uh you shepherded them.

SPEAKER_00 31:28

Yeah, he's uh yeah, I think no Hiroki Kai spent the least amount of time within the top ten for this.

SPEAKER_03 31:36

That was a that was a surprising performance for me.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

Yeah, because when did Hiroki move into 10th place? I'll take a look. I also I love how like when I click their name on Ultras on Ultra Live and it shows their you know Western States previous picture. Uh like half the people are in puffy jackets and sweatshirts and stuff, and normally it's just t-shirt, t-shirt, like singlet. It was like it was cold. Hiroki Kai did not move into 10th. He checked into 10th place for the first time at Pointed Rocks.

SPEAKER_03 32:07

Yeah, yeah. I think I want to say that him and Jesh, I think he passed Jesh around that area.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

Yeah, and was uh 26th at Duncan Canyon. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 32:17

I was actually there for it because I was waiting for Jen Lichter, and it was so cool. Like their whole crew kind of had like a micro celebration. Just like they knew exactly where they were in the field, and the transition was fun, and he ran out of there. Uh I mean he could have dunked a basketball the way he was hopping out of that aid. It was amazing.

SPEAKER_00 32:37

The other thing with this top ten on the men's side is you know, the finishing top ten, there's a lot of names missing that we talked about in our preview show. And it was like a lot of it was due to it was like injury, not necessarily blow up and you know, drop out.

SPEAKER_03 32:55

A lot of injuries, like a lot of knees.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

Jim Killing Hayden, Dan Jones, Dan Jones, Hans, Hans Hans Dan had Dan sounded like he had a cough. I'm curious if he went into this race a little sick.

SPEAKER_02 33:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Like he was like hacking, okay, coming out of Forest Hill. Hans blew up. Like, and that was a pretty classic blow-up. But like, yeah, like Killian was getting hurt. Hayden. I heard a couple different things, and I don't know exactly which it was. Like it's they said it sounded like you like came into was it Duncan or Dusty and was like sitting on the ground, maybe looked like he was stretching out. They couldn't tell. But then I also heard that maybe he was having some footwear problems, um, which then caused some gate challenges. Gate challenges, yeah. Yeah, I heard he had some insult issues. I don't know about that. And then yeah, Jim saw Jim coming into Forest Hill. Did you you saw him coming into Michigan Bluff? Well, how'd he look there?

SPEAKER_03 33:58

Um, he looked like his day could have ended at Michigan Bluff. Okay. He looked pretty bad, and he spent probably like ten minutes in Michigan Bluff before getting himself together and going.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

And that was with a ch a shoe change as well. Yeah, and then when I I saw him come in and just the way he was jogging into the the Hoka tent before Forestillo, I was like, I don't foresee him going out. It did look like biomechanically he wasn't super smooth. Um and yeah, it sounded like he was maybe having some some sort of injury problems. And I I just can't help but think like Hans's aggressiveness early on. It forced everyone to run. It did force it kind of everyone to run there, because two of the podium did chase Hans. Um and you know, it eventually blew himself up, but it did knock out a lot of the major players.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

Can I ask you a question? Obviously, we from an entertainment standpoint, what Hans did was so fun to watch, but do you think that he could have done something differently in his execution and won the race?

SPEAKER_00 35:07

I mean, I can't help but think he doesn't blow up where he does if he just sits. I I just I don't know if the splits are what they are if he if he didn't go out that hard. Like I, you know, say we usually say if not him, then who else? Like if it wasn't him, I think if it wasn't for him, I think all the splits would have been a little slower. I don't know if the fin overall finishing time would have been a little slower. Maybe going back to what we were saying about Von Sant earlier, maybe we just end up seeing Von Sant in the lead earlier because he's actually just gonna hit identical splits anyways. Um does that then mean Hayden doesn't run into issues, Killian doesn't run into issues, Jim doesn't run into issues. I don't know, because it it all seemed like injury-related things, not necessarily blow-up things, so that might have been the scenario, no matter what, for those three.

SPEAKER_03 36:03

Yeah, I mean that pace at Honset was so fast. I think at Dusty Corners, they're already 15 minutes ahead of Caleb's splits into their last year. Dusty Corners is mile 38. And Caleb was running probably um just under 14 hour splits, maybe like 1350 splits into their last year. So that is I think that's a pretty significant chunk of uh time early on in a race to be kind of under already aggressive splits.

SPEAKER_00 36:31

Yeah, especially not that we're experts or anything, but we kept saying that the most the majority of the time for this course record would come off, you know, in maybe like Cal two or Cal three to the finish or the river to the finish, because that's where majority of the time has been bled, and you know for now the fastest splits have already been run through Michigan Bluff or Forest Hill.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

Um how about Zach Miller's debut here? 1420, fifth place. I mean, what was what was the fastest debut time coming into this race? Coming into this year. 1430. 1430. Jeff McGauver a lot yeah. Toma debuted here, and so did Francesco. So it was the third, it's now the third fastest, but I just think for Zach that was an incredible performance.

SPEAKER_03 37:20

Yeah, I think um Zach Miller's the video of Zach Miller entering the track and completing his 300 meters has to be one of my favorite pieces of content that came out of Western States. Like we were I Mike had asked me, he's like, Do you think this is performative at this point? Like, this is something that Zach Miller like needs to do, and I was like, Hater. No, I was like, I think this is how Zach is. Like this is just how he finishes, and this is what he looks like when he's working hard. Like, he is a straight up like train. Yeah, and that's what he looked like, like chugging along, like and he was moving fast in that finishing stretch, and like wasn't necessarily being threatened from directly behind at that point. That's just what he wants to do to get in.

SPEAKER_00 38:03

Yeah, like I mean, like you said in our pre-race interview, like he doesn't like to waste anything, and he didn't want to waste that. I mean, yeah, like a train. Shouts to the big boy. Like Zach Miller gets the big boy award of Western states for being the biggest steam engine out there.

SPEAKER_02 38:22

And then for people that weren't on the ground today at awards, Zach also had the energy and uh yeah, just giving nature to set up his van right next to the awards tent, and he was serving out three popsicles.

SPEAKER_00 38:36

So here's my conspiracy theory behind that. He gave out popsicles as an excuse to have the best parking spot for the award ceremony.

SPEAKER_02 38:46

That's probably he paid for that.

SPEAKER_00 38:49

Yeah, I would I would pay for better parking if they if the good parking spot though.

SPEAKER_03 38:55

Shh.

SPEAKER_00 38:57

We don't need me and one other car.

SPEAKER_02 39:01

Yeah, it's a two it's a two-car parking spot. Raid Research is the official equipment and apparel partner of our 2026 Western States 100 coverage. You've definitely heard me talk about their LF5L Vest launch and their Trail Tech shorts in the past, and yes, they are both already sold out, but they're gonna be restocked in early July. So make sure that you are subscribed to their mailing list so you don't miss the up to date. In other news, Raid has many new summer trail products is had to release later this week. They are relaunching their first running tee that's gonna be followed by an ultra-light Anarchy Range Hill women's cargo crop tab in a very exciting women's specific belt in the first half of July. So again, join their mailing list so you don't miss a beat. Other than that, if you are listening to this during the week of TrailCon and in the area, Raid is gonna have a booth there. So go say hello. Thanks again to Raid for supporting our coverage this week. Go check out all of their products at raidresearch.com. And if you end up buying anything at checkout, please let them know that the folks at Single Track sent you. Alright, I have to throw this question at you guys. It's the audience is gonna be thinking about it. Jim and Killian, they DNF due to injuries. Some people will think that this is something to interpret even more broadly, that like it's the changing of the guard and this is the beginning of the end. Others are thinking this is just one race. We're probably gonna be talking about Jim winning UTMB for all we know in eight weeks. Where do you guys Brett, where do you come down and sort of like underreaction, overreaction to like their DNS?

SPEAKER_00 40:32

I'm less worried about Killian. Mostly because like um he was standing at the finish, he was on the track for the golden hour, and uh I was standing next to him and you asked him how he was doing. He was like, Oh, I'm fine. Like, injuries are part of racing, like that's just how it goes. Sometimes you know it's gonna go great beforehand, sometimes you have to try, sometimes it goes great, sometimes it doesn't. Like, that's why we race, but I'll be back. I was like, oh. Like, I I believe you. He seems like like into chat, he actually seems like a real straight shooter. Like, not not really much for mystery.

SPEAKER_03 41:10

Yeah, I I agree with that. Um I also think like with Jim, man, it's tough to be racing a race when you know you have another race you're signed up for. Like it doesn't really look like Terry Dower had that problem this weekend, but there is that self-preservation I'd be curious about with Jim. Like if he wants to kind of preserve the season, preserve himself for one more race, this season one more big race. Um I could see that impacting some of his decision making, and then also probably his like mental game at Western States when he probably wanted to be like all there. So yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 41:44

What would be the biggest bummer is if Jim pulling the pluck at Forest Hill didn't preserve him for UTMB this year. Like I hope I hope that he called it early enough where it's nothing, you know, serious and he's able to keep it going.

SPEAKER_02 42:02

I'd also be curious to know, was this an injury that was also persistent and problematic in training, or was it something that kind of appeared out of the blue during the race?

SPEAKER_00 42:13

Which is definitely a thing, too. I mean, I feel like we don't really talk about that because well that that's just all speculation. But these races are long and like weird things just happen sometimes. Like all it takes is like one awkward step. You know, you slip off the rock and like your leg is straight and it just like the shock goes all the way up your body, and then all of a sudden your right side's tight for the next four hours. Like that happens.

SPEAKER_02 42:40

Uh last question for this men's field, starting with you, Brett. Let's just assume Von Sant doesn't come back to defend. Who's best positioned? Is it for is this Francesco's to to lose next year?

SPEAKER_00 42:51

I believe so. Like it didn't even like on paper he had an amazing day. But when you watch the race, I'm like he he was running fast, but he didn't look as good as I've seen him look in other races.

SPEAKER_03 43:06

So that makes me then ask, like, layer twenty, twenty-five degrees onto this race, then how he how he's gotta change some things because he he went out of Forest Hill, no ice.

SPEAKER_00 43:18

He went through the river or came into the river, no ice. Like he you know, for lack of a better term, basically to quote Scott Jurik, he raw dogged Western states and broke 14 hours. That is how Courtney did it when she ran her course record. Because I remember her not taking ice anywhere, just cold bottles.

SPEAKER_03 43:43

It was so warm yesterday, and I do think uh in the future with a hotter I mean, they're likely all going to be like hotter years than this one, and I think that would not serve him very well.

SPEAKER_00 43:55

Yeah, it was interesting. So I d was fortunate enough to pace Wilmer. out of Forest Hill down to the river, and I didn't start with any ice because I hadn't been running for 62 miles and it didn't feel that hot. As soon as we got a couple switchbacks down, it was warm. And uh he he went through Cal 1 really fast, so it was like just help him and get going. There was like four extra seconds of time at Cal two where they were filling up his uh ice bandana and I I had them throw a couple scoops of ice in my pack because I was like if I was hot enough where I was getting to the point where I was like if there's an opportunity I'm going to take ice because Will might I might overheat and Will might drop me if I don't do that.

SPEAKER_03 44:45

Yeah and I think um I you paced Will. I think Will ran a strategically very interesting race. Um not sure what his goals were going into the race but I feel like if it were to solidify a top ten performance if I was a returner to this race it would be intelligent to maybe mimic what Will did even though it's likely that he had to set his ego aside at times early on. Did you have any like front seat insights to that as it was playing out?

SPEAKER_00 45:15

Yeah I know that he very much wanted to run his own race his own effort not play any games I do think he was a little bit like bummed at Forest Hill because he hadn't really passed much of anyone that whole day and that's a lot of hours of not getting any sort of usually when you run your own race like you start passing people at Robinson flat and then you start getting that like gratification of like see up I'm smart you guys are all dumb but he didn't get any of that all the way to Forest Hill and and it was just like he just had to trust me when I was like no dude there's people in front of you and they all look terrible. It's like well every pacer's gonna say that like Will's probably like you're full of crap like that's what you have to say that uh but then you know we went by Dan you know less than a mile out of Forest Hill and then I think we might have passed Tracy next and I think then Will started to actually believe that what he was doing might actually work. Because he was like wait a minute and then we ran he ran every single step of that section which there's some really punchy climbs and um there's one long one I think it's is it before Cal two that's like almost as long as the five minute hill um it's all single track and it's really he ran every step and I was like dude there's not that many people in front of you that are gonna run every step of this like if you can just hold the throttle wherever that is at we will catch a few more people and then you know we got to be pleasantly surprised run run into the river in 10th Do you guys think there will be another year in Western state's history where we see four people go under a course record in a year I I guess it well into my vein. Um yeah I I I want to know I mean I guess we'll have to wait till next year to see what this new course reroute um up high does to the overall finish times. Like is next year like is Ultra sign up gonna just like archive the old yeah just gonna archive the old ones and we have a new top ten. Like is it going to be that different or do we just get to intersperse them in so then it's like do we need to wait two years then before we see a new course record?

SPEAKER_02 47:41

I think I think it's a great question. I don't feel confident about any particular answer but I would say the thing that I'm the most excited about is just seeing a more compressed top 10 on both sides. Like seeing how compressed the women's top 10 was this year relatively speaking the men's top 10 was way more compressed this year than last year so that was great. And I just think that that lends itself to better racing and just more fun experiences from the river on.

SPEAKER_03 48:04

Yeah the men's was top 10 was still hour 40 separated the one through 10 whereas the women's was 15 to 20. Yeah which is like is that the first time it's been slight like an actual slimmer margin just by the number of minutes I think last year was too because the men's oh yeah outrageous yeah do you guys think the do you think Francesca will come back do you think Toma will come back Killian like do you think we'll see another like euro stronghold next year?

SPEAKER_02 48:35

Yeah I want to look back historically Toma and Francesco have to come back because I do I do believe this is a signature win in anyone's career. I feel less confident that Von San comes back. I agree yeah because he did it now yeah and I feel like from the European side of things it it is a quite investment to come over here and race and um you don't have sort of home field advantage. So I think if you get the win you move on.

SPEAKER_03 48:58

Yeah I thought it was interesting comparing the men's and women's field throughout the race the the Euro men were all at the front pack um early on in those like two through five positions two through six and then all the Euro women were in like the back half the top ten. So it was like Fiona um I know Caitlin Fielder's she's from New Zealand but she lives in Spain but it's like uh Ingild Fiona Caitlin were all kind of like seven through ten and I thought like initially when I saw the women's side of things I was like wow it's like the top six as they're racing top six top seven were all North American I was like that makes sense and then I flipped over to the men's race and I was like wow all the Euros are at the front and it's all like the North Americans at the back half of the top ten.

SPEAKER_00 49:37

So I thought that was interesting because I I don't know I don't know what I expected I would have expected like the non-Americans to be towards the front on both the men's and women's sides. I wonder if there's just a little bit more Western 6 experience on the women's side.

SPEAKER_02 49:51

I think that's probably more likely where they were like uh no this is actually the right place to be all right before we get to final thoughts I want to play a fun game of buy or sell and as I read off these statements you can simply say buy or sell or add context to them.

SPEAKER_00 50:09

I'd like to sell this horseshoe microphone actually who are you selling it to oh Finn I'm I'm ready for Finn to get the you ready for this Auburn spray tan okay Brett let's start with you buy or sell Molly Seidel wins western states before Hans Troyer sell because of what you said earlier today and I think I agree with it a lot so that's why Finn's getting full cover was Hans's race today somewhat eerily similar to Jim Walmsley's 2016 Western states?

SPEAKER_03 50:49

Yeah yeah I think so I think so I think he just needs to season his quads get some more race experience and especially like hundred mile competitive race experience and I I wonder if his move out to Colorado and having hopefully soon a full year of more mountain training will facilitate perhaps some of the issues that he had like not happening in the future.

SPEAKER_00 51:11

In the recent decade can you think of anyone that's taken western states out this hard not named Jim Well like I don't know the splits exactly but I remember the Dakota and Tom year.

SPEAKER_03 51:26

I think that was a slower year but like fast relative to the field I remember Dakota Cameron but it didn't end well.

SPEAKER_00 51:33

Yeah like I was just like I was just thinking about I was like dude no one's been that reckless at the beginning of the race since like Jim 2016 2017 and he did figure it out and then once he figured it out he got to learn how to win the race in a multitude of ways and right now I see something like that happening to Hans more so than Molly. I would love to hear about all the learnings that Molly had from this one and I also really hope that she races her way back into States.

SPEAKER_03 52:07

I think she will I could definitely foresee a a Havelina golden ticket coming her way and her actually like her nailing the hundred mile distance um at that race I don't know necessarily what her intentions are but I feel like that course will suit her quite well and especially applying the learnings that she had from western states like she was in the mix for like relatively in the mix up until Michigan bluff I'd say slight side tangent but we're we're still on Leah are there any races that you would like it doesn't have to be within the Golden Ticket series are there any races that someone could do that you think would help them prepare for western states really well?

SPEAKER_00 52:46

Like if someone's like I want to like I'm trying to get into western states and when I do get in I want to make sure I'm as prepared as I can and usually you've got to get the race reps in what are what what are some races that best prepare you for Western states like my go-to would have been pine to palm.

SPEAKER_03 53:02

Why when why is that?

SPEAKER_00 53:03

Because hot, dry dusty and a a same amount of descending but just equal amounts. Gorge is pretty solid conditions though.

SPEAKER_03 53:13

Yeah you don't get the conditions.

SPEAKER_02 53:14

I know but some there's a lot of people had success at Gorge and then had success here.

SPEAKER_03 53:18

I agree with you I think the hot relatively mountainous hundred miler I know western states isn't that mountainous but I actually think doing something that's more challenging than western states in hard conditions that are forcing you to like do all the things like run mountains run flat run like slide uphill but that type of stuff so pine to palm is not a bad idea.

SPEAKER_00 53:38

It really keeps the mind for me honestly there's the new the new brink brink hundred miler it's actually just in a couple weeks but that's that's actually kind of quote unquote pine to palm's replacements that might be my new answers the brink as a part of the Siskiyot's but that's only 100K I I think I'm buying the the mid to late April 100K I think I like that idea more seven eight nine weeks out.

SPEAKER_03 54:02

Yeah we should reflect I mean not on this episode future but like the people who did the mid-April 100K's how did they fare? Yes um at Western States two months later.

SPEAKER_00 54:10

Yeah that's a buyer sell I have for you is um more racing in like the January to June leading up to Western states or more training?

SPEAKER_03 54:20

I'm just even thinking off the top of my head of the women's field like Marianne didn't do much uh racing between winter and now if really any just ego trail pairs really and then like Lottie did Lottie raced like kind of a pretty uh traditional Western states build like way too cool the Gorge 100k and then crushed it here so I mean hard to say I'm buying it you're buying more racing oh sorry no I'm buying I'm buying the sorry I'm buy it sorry I missed messed up I'm buying more focus on training and just getting more quality longer runs in training blocks.

SPEAKER_02 54:56

Yeah um okay Leah starting with you buy or sell the Western states podiums both men and women will look completely different next year like a totally new representation it's like zero of six zero of six totally new representation I'm selling that idea I think we will see at least one of the people on the podium next year.

SPEAKER_03 55:20

Are we one for six this year? Marianne Mary Ann Huh just nearly yeah I think we're gonna see one of six next year one of six I'm curious if Marianne will come back that's my content last year.

SPEAKER_00 55:35

I guess I'm gonna I'm gonna buy that I think we see two completely new podiums next year.

SPEAKER_03 55:39

Okay. Wow completely that's interesting. Because I feel like I get this one day after the race I get this one day after the race inkling that Jen Lichter will return next year.

unknown 55:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 55:51

Oh well then if you Jen's not losing. Yeah exactly and actually I would be I would love to see Jen come back next year because it would be completely different for her where it's like you have the ghost of yourself you have the previous year's feelings like all this stuff how well can you just run your own race again without comparing yourself to the last one like oh back to back champs like we haven't had a back to back champ. Yeah that's that's gotta that's that's gotta be a carrot um to to chase after that it's been many years since that happened final two by yourself Brett the race is one before Forest Hill generally still oh man I'm trying to think so like Jen did that but Vincent did not although he looked at the best of the three but that's not that's not the same as I think next year we we see the race as one by Forest Hill.

SPEAKER_03 57:00

I think I sell that idea I think people just like to have phrases we don't the race we don't need doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_00 57:09

The race is over at Forest Hill we can just move the finish line to Forest Hill. I wish we were wearing like a depth as deep shirt right now as she says that they have a track at the high school forest hill let's just move it over there.

SPEAKER_03 57:21

Yeah I think I mean I think we're seeing on both sides just like compelling racing all the way to the finish line and yeah I think we're gonna keep seeing movement. I mean I think one of the most a very compelling storyline of like the men's races here for example was like Zach Miller, Adam Peterman and Thomas just like duking it out amongst this like four through six, five through seven positioning pushing Ryan Montgomery to kind of hold on to that podium position. So I think we'll see that kind of be a bit tighter in the next years and I think there will be much movement on Cal Street and beyond.

SPEAKER_00 57:57

Yeah that's what I want to see. Yeah I just don't know if I don't know if we're gonna see it.

SPEAKER_02 58:03

I was debating between these two I'm gonna pick this one uh buy or sell experience over physical and emotional fitness for success at Western states.

SPEAKER_03 58:13

Oh so which one am I buying? So you're saying Experi Oh I am buying the um fitness emotional fitness you're selling yes I'm selling that's a I think that's an interesting way to phrase this question for a tired person.

SPEAKER_00 58:30

That's like who is it I think we were talking to Billy at the coffee bar and he's like it was someone in their placing for Western states and he was like over under sixth place like what or take the over under and I was like does over mean above sixth place or is under above sixth one for this is so random but every time I go to the airport to drop someone off there's the arrivals and departures and to me you should be going to arrivals. You are arriving to the airports of departures then I've never thought departing I'm arriving to the airport yeah then why is there even a department like you drive to the airport just so you can leave that's just called an exit sign someone in the audience knows what I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_03 59:20

I'm sure there's at least one twice about it most times I go but probably not as often as Finn thinks about it. Oh my gosh. Yeah so I think I think that fitness and self-belief Trump's experience and maybe I'm just like recency bias with Jen's performance here but I also think this is true of like Ryan Montgomery I think he's had years of stacking his training blocks and his fitness he has a lot going on in his life and man I just think that all came together in a great way because this outer layer of self-belief like he believed from the get-go that he could run with all those guys up there and man it just manifested and I think that's a lot of hard work there too but I think there's a huge component that is just like the confidence to do that like and to not second guess and not to think about the future and think about potential blowups but just to say hey I'm going for it today. And you know it works for some people and not for others and I do think you might not always have those kind of magic magic days quite like that and I think we saw something similar with Abby Hall last year. Like it all came together beautifully for her there and not so much this year.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:32

So yeah you don't always get those days I think my buyer sell changes depending on the weather. I think fitness and self-belief will play into the hands of the cooler years. And I think the the veteran savvy will play into the hands of the hotter years. Oh okay um and my so I I I think my overunder for temperature is like a high of 90 in Auburn which is about the historical average like 88 to 90 degrees.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:07

Do you guys know what the high temp was? I actually didn't look at 74 yeah it was something that was not hot.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:15

Yeah yeah like that's not hot I and I think that it it it it's just one like yes you still have to do the cooling but it is one less variable and while there is still troubleshooting at those temperatures any race um maybe getting something wrong or get or not tweaking something up. That gets exaggerated like a hundredfold when it's a hundred degrees out you know you mess up a bottle you mess up a gel you do something when it's a hundred out it's it's it it's like a toddler brain you know we got two year old we we he was playing with an empty water jug. Thought it would be a good idea to fill it up then it got too heavy. He lost his shit because he couldn't pick it up anymore. Kind of like that when it's a hundred degrees in the canyons something doesn't go right you're just like that doesn't happen quite as quickly when it's eighty degrees in the canyons.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:19

So I think that's where the the veteran the veteran savvy plays in final thoughts I'll go first I am so curious to see the index scores when they get released for Western states this year. It's over 9000 wild I was talking with Anthony Costellas at the track and we were reflecting on Caleb's jump last year in the first half of 25 obviously he had the momentum from transgrand but I think he shot up to like seventh in the world on YouTube index scores after Western have like 10 people be like just thrown up to the top speaking of Ryan like what does Ryan's score go to now and then I just yeah just to reaffirm like so blown away by Ryan's performance that was an amazing podium 1353 just hats off amazing.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:02

Yeah um question for you you guys regarding like Jen's performance we last year we saw ACG uh take the throne with Caleb's win at Western States and I almost like projected him into the superstar status within ACG in some ways. Do you think we'll see something similar with Jen um this was something that I'm thinking about because she was sitting here today and she said like it's still buffering in her mind like the impact for her career that this win will have and I don't think she's yet to understand kind of what it will lead to down the road. What do you guys think?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:38

I think this win in Course Record is going to open more doors for Jen than any other previous race has for her. And that can be yeah we we were even we were just brainstorming like we gotta start brainstorming some of those non-endemic sponsors like Wonder Bread and Coca-Cola like that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:00

The only pause that I have about sort of like the size and the reach and the cultural impact of this victory is it is we are only like seven weeks removed from Rachel Entriken's seismic result at Coca-Dona where like she went on like Good Morning America and it just like went so deeply into the mainstream. And I'm actually I guess I'm curious I'm curious to see how this one plays out because I think uh this was this was an unbelievable performance and especially when you get into the mini show like we did earlier like she did it so effortlessly as a rookie at the distance and at the race so big big win for ACG.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:37

Huge two in a row yeah I think that that says a lot not only two in a row but two different people someone on the men's side someone on the women's side yeah like yeah they're they're here to stay there's a if that was maybe a long run arch like ACG won't be here in five years or something.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:59

I think they will be any like gear final thoughts Brad or like any stuff you saw on the ground for a conversational pace?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:06

So I just did a quick run through of the men's and women's top 10 zero unattached people the only person without a year round shoe sponsor is Ryan Montgomery but Ryan is I think doing it in one of my favorite ways. Did Ryan do a partnership with Lasportiva for this race? I think he might have yeah and then last year was a partnership with Norda and then I think TMB last year he's partnered with Hoka. Yeah who do the the one race partnerships and then and he's got the John G apparel sponsorship he's not I'm like yeah like that's that's sick but that's a good model. So there everybody was sponsored in the top tens. Um I think you had asked me about you know trying to figure out the f exact footwear of everyone and there was a lot of prototypes there was also a lot of problems with a lot of people's feet I think that That's a loss for most of these footwear brands. Um, sometimes it's a win if an athlete can win in a prototype that's like right around the corner. But if they're in stuff that's like fully custom, never going to come out, like that doesn't give me anything to like drool over. It's great for the athletes, and I love seeing the athletes get custom stuff, but I don't want them to be wearing custom stuff if it doesn't even work. Like I don't want to be hearing stories of people's insoles coming out or having to swap shoes with random strangers at various aid stations. Uh like those are the stories I don't want to hear because like if you're sponsored by shoe companies, like the it should be dialed. So I think on one hand is like a lot of cool footwear, but like on the other hand, there's like a lot of L's because it's just like stuff not working.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:54

Um outside of footwear, was there any other like gear you saw that stood out or a trend across the athletes of gear trends?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:02

I think it was so Adam Peterman one in 2022, that was the year of the naked belt. It seemed like everybody bought one and was wearing one. This was the year of the East Peak ice bandana.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:15

Like the branded East Peak ice bandanas too.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:18

Yeah, they could they co or like they what gave their they let other like they did customs, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:24

Like so these East Peak uh bandanas, um, you know, it's quite good visual on the back. So imagine there's a follow cam, like following Will Murray, for example, let's say, on Cal Street. Um the Ice Bandana has a great spot in the back for co-branded by maybe their title sponsor. So Will could then have like Brooks slapped on the back of the. Oh yeah, or like or your yeah, your watch company, your nutrition company. I saw precision on the back of some people's Yeah, so what do we see?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:51

We saw we saw classic East Peak, saw ACG, saw Sunto, saw core body temperature sensors. Interesting. Um But I think it was like most of the men's and women's top ten were wearing those. Jacob Bantas was integrated into his tantrums pack. It was like that was cool. Um yeah, so this was the year of the East Peak ice bandana. Even though it was technically year two, because they had a few sprinkled in there last year, and then everybody had them this year.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:25

Well, Brett and Leah, I can't thank you enough for this recap. Hard to believe, but we're gonna be back together in person in seven weeks in Chamani, France, to cover UTMB. You have UTMB, you're racing it. You're doing the full loop. Sure am and uh I can't wait, and I wish you both the best. Relaxing July, and uh I guess we should also thank our partners too, Norda, Precision, and Raid for making all this coverage possible. Please support them. Go check out all their products at the links in our bio. Thanks, Brett. Thanks, Leo. All right, thanks for tuning in to our 2026 Western States 100 coverage. This is our fourth year doing it, and we're having the time of our lives. Before we go, I wanted to ask the following from you: if you're motivated to contribute to what we're doing, please consider leaving a detailed rating and review on Apple and Spotify. Leave a comment on any of these episodes on YouTube and support our partners and let them know that we sent you. For example, uh, go get one of the new vests from Ray the LF5L, let them know that we sent you at checkout. Same goes for Nord or Precision, use our discount code in the show notes there, and use the link as well to complete the nutrition plan of Raid. These are the specific actions that truly keep the lights on for us and make this annual pilgrimage to Olympic Valley. This tradition, this great tradition possible. Thanks for considering, and we will see you on the next episode.