Tomorrow morning at 5:00 AM Pacific, 370 runners will toe the line at Olympic Valley in California for the 2026 Western States Endurance Run. The world's oldest 100-mile race. And this year, there's a storyline worth staying up for.
Key Takeaways
- Start: June 28, 5:00 AM PT, Olympic Valley (formerly Squaw Valley), California
- 100.2 miles (161 km) to Auburn, CA. 18,000+ feet of climbing
- Molly Seidel — 2020 Olympic marathon bronze medalist — runs her first-ever 100-miler
- ~370 runners at the start, lottery-selected from thousands of applicants
- Results expected June 29 — elite men typically finish between 2-4 PM Saturday
The Most Iconic Trail Course on Earth
The Western States trail dates back to the 19th-century Gold Rush. The race starts at 6,200 feet in Olympic Valley and climbs to Emigrant Pass at 8,700 feet before dropping into the notorious Sierra Nevada canyons, where temperatures routinely hit 100°F+ during the day.
That's the real challenge of Western States: the first 50 miles destroy your legs in the mountains. The second 50 miles destroy your ability to regulate heat in the canyons. The fastest athletes run through the night to clear the canyons before the heat builds. Everyone else has to deal with both — and if you're not prepared, racing in extreme heat can turn dangerous fast.
Molly Seidel: The Story of the Race
If there's one name to watch, it's Molly Seidel. The 2020 Olympic marathon bronze medalist is running her first 100-miler at age 31. After a career defined by injuries, comebacks, and historic road performances, she's stepping into entirely new territory.
She knows how to suffer on roads. Western States is something different. The climbing, the heat management, the night running, the fueling demands of 100 miles — all new. That's exactly what makes her attempt compelling. It's genuinely unknown. For a sense of what the body endures at these distances, the extreme physiology of multi-day desert racing offers a sobering look at how far human limits can be pushed.
The Elite Field
Western States deliberately limits its field: roughly 370 total runners, with an elite field selected on performance criteria. Full elite start lists are available on iRunFar, which runs the most comprehensive live coverage of the race.
The race starts at 5 AM. Elite men typically finish between 14 and 16 hours into the race — arriving somewhere between 7 and 9 PM Saturday local time. Elite women usually arrive 30-60 minutes later.
How to Follow the Race
iRunFar runs live checkpoint tracking, on-course interviews, and real-time analysis throughout the race. The official WSER site (wser.org) also provides live split tracking at every major aid station.
Full results drop June 29. We'll publish a complete results breakdown with times, performance analysis, and the biggest stories from the race.