Western States Crisis!?!
September 11, 2007 by Bryon Powell · Leave a Comment
As previously noted, I’ve started adding some races for the fall and, in fact, am starting to consider which races will be my cornerstone races next year. As part of this process, I looked at the Hardrock website (no problem entering – my 2006 Western States and Leadville races qualify me so long as the entry standards don’t change from this year) and the Western States website. Crap! I don’t have an official WS qualifier!?! To qualify for the lottery for next year’s WS, you need to have done any one of the following between October 1, 2006 and November 3, 2007:
(a) run 50 miles in under 11 hours; or
(b) run 100 kilometers in under 14 hours; or
(c) complete any OFFICIAL 100-mile trail race; or
(d) complete three 50-mile runs within the cutoff times of those races, but in not more than 12 hours, during the qualifying period.
Yup. Haven’t done any of those. I’m hoping that I can use my 12:50:55 for the 70.5 mile Laurel Highlands Ultra held in June 2007 to enter the lottery for the 2008 WS100. While not within any of the above listed standards, my performance at Laurel Highlands undeniably undeniably exceeds standard (b) above. I’ll write the RD today. Cross your fingers… otherwise I might be flying to Vermont the evening of September 29 to run the Vermont 50 the following day. Ok, after looking, I’m a little less panicked. Sure I’ve love to have the qualifier done with, but there are multiple options to run 50 miles to 100 miles between now and November 3. I could also qualify with the Canandaigua 50 miler on 10/6 (this actually sounds awesome as I’ve wanted to circuit a Finger Lake for awhile now), the Man Against Horse 50 in Arizona on 10/6, the Arkansas Traveler 100 on 10/6 (ugh…), the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 in Washington state on 10/6, the Boulder 100 on 10/13, the Ed Fitz 100k in Minnesota on 10/13, the Dick Collins Firetrail 50 in California on 10/13, the Glacial Trail 50 in Wisconsin on 10/14, the Door County 50 on 10/20 in Wisconsin, the Pony Express 100 on 10/26 in Utah (not sure if I can use this as a qualifier, but it’s almost exactly a run I schemed about the past two summers – except mine went in the opposite direction from the Nevada border to the Wasatch Front), the Chicago Lakefront 50 on 10/27…. and there are some more. I should have signed up for the Tussey Mountainback 50 (PA – 9/22) as it would have saved me this worry.
Related articles:
- Supply and Demand at the Western States 100 A look at the Western States 100 lottery problem and what to do about it....
- Update re Western States and Recovery Following my mild panic regarding a lack of a Western States 100 qualifier noted here, I have been notified that my Laurel Highlands effort will, in fact, be recognized as...
- Western States 100 Lottery – Change Is A'Comin (A Draft Proposal) Matt Hart has already written about entering this year’s Western States lottery, which will be held on December 1. Andy Jones-Wilkins has already reviewed the possible men’s field for next...
Bryon Powell is the Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar.com, which he founded five years ago. Also the author of Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, he's quickly approaching 10 years as an ultrarunner and 20 years as a trail runner. These days he calls Park City, Utah and its trails home.
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