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Greetings from California! We’re here at the 2025 Western States 100 to bring you behind-the-scenes coverage of the 52nd running of this historic race. At 5 a.m. PT on June 28, 369 lucky runners departed from the base of the ski resort to begin their 100-mile quest to Auburn.
It’s been a couple of hectic days here as racers and multiples more in pacers, crew, family, friends, and fans descended upon the Tahoe region to soaked in the pre-States hype. Headlining the field this year is Kilian Jornet, the 2011 champion who’s also won Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc four times, the Hardrock 100 five times, and summited Mount Everest twice without supplemental oxygen, just to name a few of his accomplishments en route to becoming the greatest trail and ultrarunner of all time.
He’s up against a talented field eager to prove their mettle against the GOAT, including 2022 champ Adam Peterman and 2024 Leadville 100 winner David Roche. Meanwhile, the women’s race will crown a new winner. We’re predicting crown will go to one of the sport’s up-and-coming stars, including last year’s runner-up Fu-Zhao Xiang of China, who threw down the third fastest time ever in her debut; two-time Golden Ticket race champ Riley Brady; or Tara Dower, who set the overall fastest known time on the Appalachian Trail last summer, although she’s been battling a cold for the past week. And don’t sleep on veterans Marianne Hogan, who finished third in 2022, and Emily Hawgood, who’s finished in the top 10 here four out of four tries.
But it’s Western States, and the altitude and punchy terrain of the high country, convection-oven heat and quad-bashing downhills of the canyons, and rude runnability of the final 20 or so miles chew runners up and spit them out in highly unpredictable patterns.
Scroll down for our live, boots-on-the-ground updates. And if you’re just tuning in, check out our comprehensive race coverage:
6:32 Elapsed: Chris Myers and Caleb Olson Neck-in-Neck at Devil’s Thumb (47.8mi)
Caleb Olson, who’s 5th-place last year was the fastest debut ever, caught Chris Myers on the completely exposed climb up to the Devil’s Thumb aid station at mile 47.8. The two entered aid together, with Myers barely stopping before continuing on. Hopefully that decision to not take a beat to cool himself down doesn’t haunt him later.
Kilian Jornet, David Roche, and Adam Peterman all came into the aid station three-ish minutes later. Jornet left without taking ice. Roche was heard begging for caffeine, and Peterman looked cool as a cucumber.
The top 10 men are separated by 11 minutes, with Dan Jones, Hans Troyer, Jeff Mogavero, Seth Ruhling, and Rod Farvard bringing up that second half.
5:46 Elapsed: Chris Myers Takes the Lead at Last Chance (43.3mi)
Chris Myers from Boulder, Colorado has taken charge of the men’s race. He was 10th here in his debut last year. Myers came into the Last Chance aid station (mile 43.3) in 5:46 elapsed. He’s 9 minutes ahead of Jim Walmsley’s course record pace.
Myers is a minute up on Caleb Olson and three minutes up on Adam Peterman, Dan Jones, David Roche, and Hans Troyer. Rod Farvard, Seth Ruhling, and Kilian Jornet are a minute back from them. It’s 75 degrees and without a cloud in the sky it feels very hot already.
4:53 Elapsed: Abby Hall and Martyna Mlynarczyk Lead Through Robinson Flat
Abby Hall’s campaign continues from the high country into the canyons. She came into the final high-country check point in 4:53 elapsed, along with Martyna Mlynarczyk, in the lead. Both women have wheels—Mlynarczyk recently ran a 33-minute 10K—which should make things interesting as they enter the more runnable, albeit very hot, miles ahead. They’re 14 minutes up on Courtney Dauwalter’s course record splits.
The women’s race is starting to blow open. Ida Nilsson’s dropped 90 seconds back since we last saw her. Eszter Csillag, who appears to have taken a tumble, is another three minutes behind, with Marianne Hogan another three minutes back.
4:18 Elapsed: It’s Getting Hot in Here at Robinson Flat (30.3mi)
After a 40 minute climb coming into the Robinson Flat aid station (mile 30.3) Rod Farvard emerged still in the lead right with Seth Ruhling in 4:18:51 elapsed. One through 10 remain just 90 seconds apart, with all of the top contenders, including Kilian Jornet, David Roche, Caleb Olson, and Adam Peterman, still in the mix. Top runners were in and out in about 35 seconds as they refueled and cooled down with ice and water.
The leaders are eight minutes ahead of Jim Walmsley’s course record pace, which means they’ve lost two minutes to chasing Walmsley’s ghost since Duncton Canyon six miles ago. The real feel is hotter than those on site remember it ever feeling at this final checkpoint before the canyons begin.
3:51 Elapsed: Abby Hall, Ida Nillson, Martyna Mlynarczyk in Front at Duncan Canyon
After trading places for the last 20 miles or so, Abby Hall followed closely by Ida Nillson came into Duncan Canyon (mile 24.4) in 3:51:44 and 3:51:46 elapsed, respectively. Less than 10 seconds back was Martyna Mlynarczyk, the Polish athlete with a background in dance and triathlon. They’re 13 minutes up on Courtney Dauwalter’s course record splits from 2023, but keep in mind that Dauwalter set the record on a high snow year, when moving through the high country was slower due to post-holing and route-finding but the canyons weren’t as hot as we’re expecting today.
Eszter Csillag and Marianne Hogan blitzed through each a minute back, followed four minutes later by Hannah Allgood, Heather Jackson, Hau Ha, and Fuzhao Xiang. This trickle of women stands in stark contrast to the giant pack we saw in the men’s race. But like with the men, most of the women are taking a few seconds to swap out ice packs and grab ice bandanas. Both Ha and Xiang’s crews called the women back to collect their ice.
3:24 Elapsed: Rod Farvard Leads “Peloton” Through Duncan Canyon (24.4mi)
It’s curious how we often see wildly different race strategies and pack dynamics between the men’s and women’s races. This year is no exception. The train of men (a runner’s peloton, if you will) we saw crest the Escarpment together remain intact 24.4 miles into the race at the Duncan Canyon aid station. Last year’s runner-up Rod Farvard is once again going for broke. He was first in and out of aid, barely stopping as he swapped out packs (filled with ice) with his crew. He was immediately followed by Jeff Mogavero, the Montanan who earned a Golden Ticket with a second-place finish at the Javelina 100-miler in October. They’re 10 minutes under Jim Walmsley’s course record splits from 2019.
Less than 30 seconds back were 2024 UTMB champ Vincent Bouillard, last year’s sixth-place Caleb Olson, the Boulder trio of David Roche, Chris Myers, and Seth Ruhling, Hans Troyer, and Kilian Jornet. 2022 champ Adam Peterman, Hannes Namberger, and Daniel Jones followed suit less than a minute back. Nearly all quickly stopped to refuel and cool down with ice.
43 Minutes: Abby Hall is First Woman Up
Up the Escarpment, that is. After sitting on the heels of a very comfortable-looking Riley Brady, Abby Hall went around them about two-thirds up the climb to put in a pretty hefty gap on the field. She crested the Escarpment, bone-conduction headphones wrapped around her head, surrounded by hundreds of fans. Hall’s 43-minute split was three and a half minutes behind Katie Schide’s split from last year, when she was only a minute behind the lead men.
Hall was followed thirty seconds later by Ida Nilsson, followed one-by-one by Martyna Mlynarczyk, Eszter Csillag, Riley Brady, Hannah Allgood, Shea Aquilano, Heather Jackson, Marianne Hogan, Emily Hawgood, and Fuzhao Xiang.
Runners have 27 miles of high altitude, punchy, often wet, rocky, and rooty terrain averaging 7,000 feet of elevation ahead of them until they reach the infamous canyons.
38 Minutes Elapsed: 12 Men Crest the Escarpment Together
After a lot of chatter about various men taking the race out hot, it looks like Group Think won the morning. A dozen men strung out by David Roche leading the charge reached the top of the Escarpment together in 38 minutes and 45 seconds, about 20 seconds under course-record pace.
That pack includes pretty much all of the heavy hitters, including (in order): Jeff Mogavero, Vincent Bouillard, Caleb Olson, Adam Peterman, Seth Ruhling, Kilian Jornet, Chris Myers, Dan Green, Rod Farvard, and Hans Troyer.
5 a.m. on June 28: The 2025 Western States Has Begun
Just as the sun began to creep into the Palisades Tahoe valley, the gun fired and the 369 entrants took off up the Escarpment. They have a 3.5-mile climb with 2,550 feet of elevation gain to kick off the day. At the top awaits the sunrise bathing Lake Tahoe—along with hundreds of fans. It’s pretty chilly down here right now, light coat weather for fans watching the start. But that won’t be the case for long. Forecasts call for 97 degrees in Auburn today, which means closer to 120 degrees in the depths of the canyons, especially after a couple of hot days to warm up the oven down there.
