The publish AJW’s Last Ideas on the 2026 Western States 100 appeared first on iRunFar.
One other Western States 100 has come and gone, and the 2026 version was a doozy! The third-coolest temperatures in race historical past, mixed with no snow within the excessive nation, yielded course data for each the males and the girls. As well as, the 87% finisher charge was the very best in race historical past, and the 136 sub-24-hour finishers have been second solely to the 148 silver buckles awarded within the 2012 occasion.
I walked away from the 2026 occasion with three observations.
Pre-Race Predictions Versus Actuality
My pre-race predictions turned out to be fairly incorrect. Within the males’s race, from my prime six runners, just one made it into the highest six, and two others made the highest 10. Three of my picks didn’t end.
- Jim Walmsley – DNF
- Jeff Mogavero – seventh
- Zach Miller – fifth
- Hayden Hawks – DNF
- Hans Troyer – DNF
- Will Murray – ninth
I solely fared barely higher on the ladies’s aspect of the ledger, with two of my picks making the highest six, and two others making the highest 10. One among my picks didn’t begin on account of harm, and one other didn’t end.
- Abby Corridor – DNF
- Jenn Lichter – 1st
- Tara Dower – sixth
- Anne Flower – DNS
- Fu-Zhao Xiang – seventh
- Hannah Allgood -Tenth
Evolving Aggressive Density within the Males’s and Ladies’s Races
One method to measure the aggressive density of Western States is to have a look at the unfold in instances between the first- and Tenth-place finishers. Utilizing this metric, the smaller the unfold, the extra aggressive the race for the highest 10.
For Western States between 2022 and 2026, the spreads ranged from 1:05 to 2:42, with the smallest being the 2024 males’s race. The most important time distinction was throughout the 2023 girls’s race when Courtney Dauwalter set a brand new course document in 15:29:33. That yr, the unfold between Katie Schide in second place, who additionally went beneath the earlier course document, and Tenth place was 1:28, which might have positioned it as probably the most aggressive girls’s area till this yr.
Trying on the time variations over time, it will seem that whereas the lads’s race has change into much less aggressive since 2022, the depth of the ladies’s area is rising. Of explicit observe, utilizing this statistic as a measure of competitiveness signifies that in each 2025 and 2026, the ladies’s race was extra aggressive than the lads’s.
Right here is the info from the outcomes listed on the Western States web site:
| 12 months | Males’s Prime-10 Unfold | Ladies’s Prime-10 Unfold | Distinction in Unfold |
| 2022 | 1:22 | 2:13 | -0:51 |
| 2023 | 1:29 | 2:42 | -1:13 |
| 2024 | 1:05 | 1:47 | -0:42 |
| 2025 | 2:11 | 1:34 | +0:37 |
| 2026 | 1:40 | 1:17 | +0:23 |
Sponsors and Coaches of the Prime 10 Runners
With the game’s rising professionalization, the vary of company sponsorships accessible to elite athletes has grown exponentially lately. Within the 2026 Western States, there have been 13 totally different corporations represented among the many males’s and ladies’s top-10 finishers. Hoka led the best way with 4 top-10 finishes, and Nike ACG and adidas every had three. Salomon, Brooks, Altra, Arc’terex, On, Kailas Fuga, Janji, Kiprun, The North Face, and Mount to Coast every had one.
Then again, one endurance teaching firm clearly dominated the elite area at Western States: Colorado-based CTS Endurance Teaching. This yr, 5 of the top-10 males and 4 of the top-10 girls have been coached by 4 totally different CTS coaches. John Fitzgerald coaches Lichter, Adam Peterman, Mogavero, and Murray. Jason Koop coaches Montgomery, Canyon Woodward, and Xiang. Cliff Pittman coaches Allgood, and Adam Ferdinandson coaches Riley Brady.
And with that, a historic yr at Western States involves an finish. I, for one, am already counting the times till subsequent yr when extra magic will certainly be made.
Bottoms up!
AJW’s Beer of the Week
This week’s Beer of the Week comes from Tree Home Brewing Firm in Charlton, Massachusetts. Second of Readability Milk Stout is an American milk stout brewed with espresso, chocolate, and maple syrup. Easy and hearty, Second of Readability is a scrumptious milk stout excellent for a cold summer season night in Northern New England.
Name for Feedback
- How did your Western States 100 predictions pan out?
- What are your ideas on the competitiveness of the fields over the previous few years?
*AJW is an unbiased contractor coach who works for CTS, primarily teaching mid- to back-of-the-pack athletes.
AJW’s Last Ideas on the 2026 Western States 100 by Andy Jones-Wilkins.
