Why Western States is America’s Most Important Race

Josh (00:00)
Western State season is upon us. The field is finalized. probably only subtractions at this point, unfortunately, through injuries. There’s a lot of unknowns, probably still for some of these elite runners who go through so much to get ready for game day. and somehow I’m already thinking about it. I’m I’m already obsessed with it. I have been for a few months. I’ve been waiting to do this episode for a while. ⁓ I I pushed it back as far as possible to get as close.

two western states as possible. I mean, I’m thinking about it more than I should. I’m already imagining what leaders will look like I’m I’m thinking of the canyons and how hot they’re gonna be. I’m I’m imagining what the race will look like, as they’re turning the corner coming into Forest Hill. rucky Chucky, of course. How do you not think about Rookie Chucky and and then throwing on

The life jackets, you know, who is still alive at that point, who is still fit, who is still moving, and who will surprise us ⁓ as they’re coming into that spot and and why why do I care this much already? Why this race? Why does Western states seem to occupy a different place in my mind than almost every other event in trail running? I don’t spend months thinking about races, not even UTMB. I think maybe I would if they released the field sooner. ⁓ Western States does a great job of just

on ultra sign up show on the field all year long as it as it comes together. And I love that. I need it as a fan. I I just enjoy these other races. I watch these other races, but I don’t live with them the way that I live with Western States. And I think I’ve finally figured out why. Western States remains one of the last sporting events where greatness and history, a sense of place and uncertainty all coexist

At equal value and the same event. There’s really only two others that I could think of. The Masters has it in golf, and the Kentucky Derby has it in horse racing. Western States has it. The best athletes in the sport. A course that has become part of the mythology. Just like the Masters, just like the Kentucky Derby.

There is no Kentucky Derby without Churchill Downs. There is no Western states without this course. ⁓ the history feels alive, and enough uncertainty that nobody really knows what story we’re about to witness. It could it could unfold in any way. Every year feels important before it happens because some of the characters arrive no matter what.

Meaning the course shows up no matter what. So you know you’re gonna get the course. That’s part of what makes this special. And maybe I’m already losing sleep over Western states because to me now in my mind it lives on par with the great sporting events, of the last few hundred years, It’s the Borderlands Trail and Ultra Running podcast, presented by Kip Run. My name is Josh. I’m the host.

And the founder of Borderlands, super stoked to be working with Kip Run. Check out the link in the show notes. They dropped in America in April. Their shoes are incredible. They’re all over podiums in the ⁓ EU. What are they gonna do at Western States? Tomac Cardin, who runs for Kip Run here in France, got a golden ticket at Chianti and he’s coming to Western States.

you’re not really watching Western States for participation. Yes, I celebrate the participatory side of the sport. We are really happy that those runners got in. But trust me, as someone who has put together a media company at first really trying to emphasize the middle and back of the pack, that wasn’t getting the same enthusiasm from larger numbers as I try and grow this thing.

People still wanna see who’s gonna show up and who’s gonna be the best and who is gonna be great on that day. I’m not saying the participation side of the sport of people who are just doing it because they love it aren’t gonna give us a really great show that day. Isn’t gonna be a beautiful day for them, isn’t gonna be an inspiring day. It’s just not the greatness that we’re showing up for. We’re showing up for that elite field. I went to Western Saints in twenty nineteen, ⁓

To pace my buddy Cordell. And at the same time, you know, it was a bucketless thing for me at that point. I wanted to be there, especially on a year where you could feel that that Walmsley was ⁓ gonna do something special again. And I remember standing, you know, at at Forest Hill waiting for Jim to come around the corner, and I just could not believe that someone that far into a race.

could look like that. He didn’t look fresh by any stretch, but he did not look gassed at all. I mean, sweating, wet head to toe, moving at an unbelievable pace through there. And then seeing Jared Hazen coming in not too far behind him, who also, had Jim not been running that day, Jared would have had the course record. Just an a just an absolute all time great moment to see that. At the same time, I was nearby when Courtney ⁓

came through and to see Courtney, you know, in 2019, And that was incredibly special. But some performances just feel different when you’re standing there. And as a fan, like I I I just absolutely loved it. You know, one of my very good friends was at the game when Texas Tech beat Texas AM college football in the nineties and and to actually

be there when Zach Thomas got the interception, came back, and then, you know, tear down the goalposts, celebrate, jump on the field, all that sort of stuff. There’s just something different about getting to be there. Western States is one of the last places, in my opinion, where the the greatness gets to feel tangible. All of our great elite trail runners are putting on shows year-round all around the world. It’s just that this is the one that they all have agreed on, more or less, with all of the warts of Western states and all, that they have agreed that this is the one

where you throw down. This is the one where you show up, you win this one. There’s some serious, I don’t want to say bragging rights, because that’s maybe not the culture, but there’s some serious gravitas to winning this race that matters for the rest of your life. ⁓ others are like that too. UT and B has some weight like that, of course. ⁓ Coca-Dona is starting to to feel as weighty but still needs the the a few more years under its belt to have the heritage in my opinion. But

Greatness still matters. number two, ⁓ the lead never feels safe. As a sports fan, I get to watch something that lasts a very long time, relatively speaking. Not as long as it would take for me to run the race. I’m I’m gonna be coming in at 30 hours, but.

You know, to watch for 14 hours to fifteen and a half hours for the podiums to be coming in of this race, ⁓ somehow for most of that race, it doesn’t feel unsafe, no matter how big the lead is. For me, when I’m watching, you know, it starts to feel safe around Rocky Chucky, maybe. I mean, you really it feels safe at Wendell ⁓ or sorry, at Roby Point. But

You know, there’s something about ⁓ an ultra where even if Jim had that 20 minute lead on Jared Hazen, that at any point that 20-minute lead on Jared Hazen could fall apart. All it takes is Jared having a really great 20 minutes and Jim having an awful 20 minutes. And we’re back to a neck and neck race. Now that didn’t happen that year in 2019, but that’s what I’m talking about. That’s what I love about it, is that it doesn’t feel safe. So I can be engaged for 14, 16, 17 hours to watch.

M1 through, you know, M3, F1 to F3 come in, and I’m still the entire time just amped on what’s happening and what’s unfolding out in the field. Now, I have wanted to see some of that get better. So I have been working on something called live on course. Check that out. Loc.borderlands.cc. It’s a way of trying to understand what’s happening even better out on the course.

But at the same time, you know, if we’ve been out there suffering in races before, we know what it’s like to know just that how much, how how ⁓ dramatically bad something can go. And so we can use our imaginations when we know that people are coming in and out of aid stations and times are slowing, and it just it never feels safe.

Okay, number three, the course is a character. I know this course better than some of the cities I’ve lived in, ⁓ certainly better in Paris where I’ve lived the last two years. I’ve been in Paris. I have only been on the Western States course once, but I feel like I I just, you know, I see it. I I see Robinson Flat and Dusty Corners and Michigan Bluff, Forest Hill. ⁓ you know, I I I dream of one day running.

through Roby Point into the stadium and the high school stadium and all that. Like I it just it just feels so familiar to me as someone who’s been obsessed with it now for I don’t know twelve or thirteen years. ⁓ Forest Hill isn’t a checkpoint. You know, Forest Hill is more akin to a feeling. All of these aid stations are feelings to me before there are these objective things where runners are are getting nutrients and hydration and support. You know? It’s an incredible

it’s an incredible thing that’s come together. The race unfolds like a movie where you kinda already know the locations. It’s like all the settings you know. It’s like wa watching Back to the Future and knowing what’s happening at the mall, knowing what’s gonna be happening at the saloon, knowing when they’re gonna be driving back toward the clock tower. So you know all of those places, but something different unfolds there each time. And I you know, it just it feels like a movie that’s familiar and at the same time one that

Has going is going to be is going to create a its own unique memory. 2026 will create its own unique memory. It’s got the the course has, you know, Wendell Roby, who wanted ⁓ Auburn to be the endurance capital of the world. And he had the Tevis Cup horse race, and then he allowed these army guys to to run the course one year, seven 72, 74, something like that. A couple of years later, Gordy runs the course.

And this thing sort of unfolds before you of just ⁓ of a course that that this race could not exist without. Could you imagine the Masters at a different course? Could you imagine the cut Kentucky Derby somewhere else? Cannot imagine this race anywhere else. ⁓ I last year we did the states debates with with Wolfrunner, and it was it was fascinating. We had Speed Goat on, we had Andy Jones Wilkins on, we had Joe Corcion on. Super interesting.

debate and and in the end I thought that that that course could that this race could live on a different course. ⁓ as a thought exercise I I tried to build okay what’s the race that we could create that would cause the elite runners to forego Western states and run a new race. Is it a $250,000 prize purse on ⁓ a a course that they could all get super excited about. And in the end I thought just as a thought experiment, yeah maybe we could build that. Maybe we could get Gatorade to write a check.

That size. Not that anyone wants Gatorade to be right in a check, that size, I get it. But maybe it’s maybe it’s possible. And now as I thought through through it this year, removed from the states debates, you know, one one year removed from from that level of of deep thinking. And my takeaway was I don’t think that this could live. I don’t I I think we need this course the way that Masters needs its course. It’s super important.

And I don’t and I I wouldn’t want to see this race happen anywhere else as a fan. Now, as a professional, I would love to see the prize purse be at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Like I I dreamt that up because I thought, man, I want to see these runners be able to live off of prize purses and not brand money. So they don’t have to always be sort of the the court jester dancing for their brand on Instagram. I’d love to see that. I’d love them to be able to prioritize training over, you know, ⁓ hustling on

on social, but that’s for another episode. You know, you remove the rec the course, and I think you remove the magic. We don’t just anticipate the runners. I mean, I I anticipate the places. Okay, next, because the race has living ancestors, there was some there’s just something cool about being on site when you hear the lore and you see Gordy

There. Wendell’s long since gone. Wendell Roby, founder of the race, is long since gone, but Gordy, you know, still Mills around there. ⁓ There, there’s all like at the at the various aid stations, you know, you see the veterans who are clearly no longer fit to run Western State, still have their belt buckle on. ⁓ you know, bellies maybe hanging over the belt buckle, the top of it’s polished off a little bit, you know, West Texas rodeo, former rodeo king.

from years past vibe on that, but there’s a pride in it that they had run it and that they are there to serve the runners coming in, but there’s also an air that they’re there to protect it and to keep it what it was and what made it special for them. Is that gatekeeping, we always think about gatekeeping here. I think in this, I’m just I’m I’m willing to just forgo the cynicism and say, what a cool thing to think that you love something so much that you want to try and keep it the thing that w made it beautiful

for you. Every buckle holder feels like, you know, a keeper of a st of the of a story of a day of of a weather ⁓ event, you know, that that made that single day special. The the race has a way of remembering itself because of the of the people who are there. And I I love to see that. So if the race coverage captures the elites and some of the downtime you’re getting to to absorb some of that vibe, ⁓ super, super special.

Okay, the the next reason ⁓ I look forward to Western States Wheels and I’m so stoked for it is is really just is specifically rucky Chucky. I mentioned this a little bit earlier. But rucky Chucky is where I start to believe what I’m seeing is real. If a runner is doing well at rucky Chucky, if they’re looking fit, I mean there’s plenty of miles ahead of them, but there’s something about rucky Chucky when I see them you know, how do they look when they’re throwing on the life preserver? How do they look when they’re getting in the boat?

How do they look emerging from the boat? Do they look stable? I mean, it just is mind blowing to see how some of these athletes look. There could be an athlete that’s at the front of the pack but is looking a little ⁓ looking a little rough in there. Maybe they’re a little bit vulnerable. But I think just at Rucky Chucky, for me, it’s the moment where I get to you you assess that, hey, what’s been happening so far, all of these hours of the day so far, if they’re looking good here, if they’re s holding a lead here and coming out of here, that maybe this is

what’s real. And so at that point, rucky chucky is when I can’t take my eyes off the coverage as if I couldn’t already. It stops being hypothetical. And that’s where ⁓ all of the possibility of the day that’s unfolded to me starts to become a reality. And so you start to either get excited or you start to be a little bit bummed that it’s not the person that you wanted it to be that day. Okay, next reason ⁓ because Western States holds two sports apps.

wants. I talk about this a lot these days. I I think that there are two sports happening out there at the same time. We just happen to share a course, a starting line and a finish line. There’s the participation version and there is the elite version. And I, you know, I want that participation version of the sport preserved forever. It’s how those of us who watch Western States or UTMB or the Great Endurance sports and we are inspired to then go do them.

ourselves and sign up for one. We sign up for a local trail race that has a hundred people or less in it. And that that fosters the participation side of the sport beautifully. I don’t want to lose that. and what’s special about Western States is that it is somehow ⁓ and I don’t know that anyone else does it. I don’t think anyone else touches it. It is somehow still the most important elite moment. And

the among the most important participation sport moments. Because if you think about everyone out there who’s running, I don’t know how many get to run it these days who are purely in that participation because you have the elite runner spots, you have all the the brand spots, you know, golden tickets, brand spots, I don’t know if there’s charity, whatever there is, they have all these spots that you can get into the race. I don’t know how many are left these days for runners who have lottery tickets who want to run on this race and

They have been finishing hundred milers every year for the last 10 years just so they can run this race. I mean that that the runners on that course who are not elite at the same time as the elite runners are living a dream that they have been working toward for 10 years, maybe, maybe longer.

You know, before I wanted to try and run Western states, it took me four to five years from the moment I decided I was gonna run 100 miles before I towed the line. So let’s imagine that this is me and I could finish 100 milers more often. I had five five years of buildup, 10 years of trying. And so am I 15 years in the port sports, 16 years before I’ve made this happen? That’s what’s happening on the course. There’s an I think that’s part of the spirit of what’s going on there is there’s an absurd amount of joy, maybe even some relief.

from all of these runners that this is you know essentially their moment to realize the joy of their 10, 15 year career in the sport. And maybe they of course they want to do well that day, but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about, you know, stepping on the sacred ground of the the birthplace of the Hunter Miler on dirt. It’s super special. And that happens at the same time that Jim and Killian

All of the elites that we’re so stoked to see are doing their own thing, which has nothing in common with that. They are all there because they are elite runners ready to win. They are looking at the people next to them, sure they are happy to see their buddies. They are there to win. And those happen on the same course, on the same day, same start line, same finish line. And I think that’s part of what makes that super special. Okay, the next reason, ⁓ because American trail running.

I think still has something to prove globally. Sure, maybe this is the birthplace of the Hunter Miler on Dirt. ⁓ you know, I want that cougar to stay at home this year. I don’t want Killian to take it to Europe. I I I hope that Thomas Cardin has a l all time great day here in France. But, you know, the the American trail running fan that I am, I want to make sure I want to see that thing stay ⁓ in America.

I think we still have something to prove. You know, we’ve we have all these great French runners who’ve been coming over and dominating the men’s race at Hard Rock. We gotta keep something ours. And as a fan, you know, that’s how I think about it. I want to see this thing stay ours. Yes, I want a great performance that day. Yes, it would be so cool to see Killian expand the bookends of an insanely long career with incredible results at the beginning of his career and at the end of his career. Like when Tiger

Came back and got the masters that last time when you thought that could he, could he not? I mean, Killian is doesn’t have the the same personal issues, but the the idea stands. Can can he still get it? Can he can he come back one more time? Is this ceremonial? I know last year he got third. with Jim in the race, is this ceremonial? Is he trying to do this at the end or is he showing up with that cutthroat ready to win? In the end, I want to see one of my American runners bring that race home and keep the cougar.

on American soil. It’s just how I think as a fan. I don’t think I’m alone in that. I want to see what our speed is looking like against the world. America has done better with speed because we don’t have the mountains to train in like the French do in the Alps and and and the great European runners, ⁓ you know northern Italy to to the border of France and Spain and the Pyrenees. And there’s so much big mountain here where America kind of owns its this sliver, it’s it’s speed in

the mountains, 17,000 feet of gain. ⁓ that that’s our that’s our sweet spot. I want to keep it. All right. Last reason. ⁓ because every year feels important before it happens. That’s what this whole thing started with. That I am I am just stoked because it just it feels important. And ⁓ yeah you’ve got all of the you got the races before it now and you’ve got trail con you got all these things that are super cool.

⁓ it’s been in a unbelievable way to expand that. It’s it’s hard all that new stuff is hard for me because we got jobs. Can’t we can’t go be there for the whole week. And so all we see is ⁓ you know, Brenda Madigan’s ⁓ race that happens before I’m sorry, I’m blanking on the name of it. and then TrailCon and Western States. And if you had the time, you could go be there for like 14 days and do nonstop stuff in trail running. How amazing is that? ⁓

All of these things are surrounding it the way that they are because it feels important. It is important to the sport. Yeah, the masters has this same feeling. The Kentucky Derby has this same feeling. You know, you look at those events, and even though they don’t allow phones on course at the Masters, it’s the same vibe that Western States is becoming. It’s a who’s who ⁓ that shows up there.

we could it’d be cool to do the big hat thing like the Kentucky Derby, maybe, but it it there there’s just this thing, it’s the place to be. Everyone carves out time to try and get there these days. I’ll be at Paris Fashion Week this year, one last time before I move back to the United States on July 7th. ⁓ Western States has this feeling, it’s important long before it even happens. We watch it unfold. And I’ll say the the golden ticket races.

I was thinking, is that is that why I’m able to be so excited about it? It’s so long before it happens. And as I look at it, I think I j I love those races for races. I love Black Canyons because it’s a race. I love Chianti because it’s a race. It doesn’t necessarily get me excited because it’s a golden ticket race. I know obviously there’s there’s plenty of people that that’s the driving piece of it. so you’re thinking about it much, much more in advance.

that’s I don’t think that that’s it for me. I think it truly is that the race in and of itself is special. It’s brilliant, it’s beautiful in in every way. And I cannot wait to see it unfold this year. I am why am I already losing sleep? it’s because Western States remains one of the last sporting events where greatness, history, place, and uncertainty all exist in the same spot on the same day.

And when the four ingredients come together, anticipation becomes part of the experience itself. The race starts long before race day, and we are lucky because race day is what, just a couple weeks away, and I will be glued to my TV all day watching that. Hope you are too.