The lottery for the 2015 Western States 100 was held today, confirming the vast majority of next year’s field, including a few elites. However, most elites either secured entry prior to the lottery or will do so in the coming months. Let’s start with those who already have entry.
The WSER website has a full list of the 2015 Western States 100 entrants. (Initially, this list will contain pre-lottery entrants only, and it will populate with the entire field in the coming days.)
Women’s Top-10 Returnees
The women’s top 10 from this year are invited to return in 2015. Everyone one from last year’s women’s top 10, with the exception of France’s Nathalie Mauclair, who finished third, will return for the race’s 2015 edition.
- Stephanie Howe (The North Face) – 18:01:42 (pre-race, finish-line, and post-race interviews as well as race report)
- Larisa Dannis (Altra/INKnBURN) – 18:29:18 (post-race interview)
Nathalie Mauclair (La Fuma) – 18:43:57 (post-race interview)- Pam Smith (La Sportiva) – 19:10:42 (pre-race interview)
- Nikki Kimball (Hoka One One) – 19:51:31 (pre-race interview)
- Kaci Lickteig (Pearl Izumi) – 20:07:10 (pre-race profile)
- Denise Bourassa (Patagonia) – 20:19:30
- Meghan Arbogast (Scott) – 21:14:48 (pre-race interview)
- Shaheen Sattar – 21:20:49
- Sally McRae (Nike) – 21:24:43
Men’s Top-10 Returnees
The men’s top 10 from 2014 are also invited to return. Like the women, nine of last year’s top-10 men plan to be back in 2014. The single non-returner is Max King, who finished in fourth place.
- Rob Krar (The North Face) – 14:53:22 (finish-line and post-race interviews)
- Seth Swanson (Pearl Izumi) – 15:19:39 (post-race interview)
- Dylan Bowman (Pearl Izumi) – 15:36:41 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
Max King (Montrail) – 15:44:45 (pre-race interview)- Ryan Sandes (Salomon) – 15:46:59 (pre-race interview)
- Ian Sharman (SCOTT) – 15:47:50 (pre-race profile)
- Alex Varner (Nike) – 15:53:42 (pre-race interview)
- Brendan Davies (Inov-8) – 15:56:49
- Brett Rivers (San Francisco Running Company) – 16:20:06
- Jesse Haynes – 16:36:42
Foreign Consideration
A few top international runners gained entry via the Foreign Resident – Special Consideration route. Among these are Julien Chorier, of France, who won Hardrock in 2011 and took second this year, and who is a multi-time winner of the Diagonale des Fous. A stellar addition to the field is France’s François D’Haene, who in the last couple of years has moved into world-domination mode at the longer ultramarathon distances. Included in this passel of victories for 2014 are wins at the Ultra-Trail Mount Fuji, Ultra-Trail Mount-Blanc, and Diagonale des Fous. Lithuania’s Gedimimius Grinius has surged onto the global scene this year with a fifth place at UTMB and a fourth at Diagonale des Fous.
- Julien Chorier (France)
- François D’Haene (France)
- Gediminus Grinius (Lithuania)
Others
Several other top-10 contenders gained entry via another Automatic Entry route:
- Dan Barger – Race Admin
- Topher Gaylord – Sponsor
- Mark Lantz – Tenth Finish
- Michael Wardian – Sponsor
- Serena Wilcox – Sponsor
Top Lottery Entrants
A total of 273 names were drawn during today’s lottery, and among them were a small number of high-level athletes:
- Sondre Amdahl
- Jeff Kozak
- Troy Shellhammer
- Ian Torrence
Methods of Later Entry
Top runners still have two routes by which they can gain entry into the 2015 Western States 100:
Montrail Ultra Cup
Up to 20 runners will be able to run their way in at the following 2015 Montrail Ultra Cup races:
- January 10 – Bandera 100k (Texas)
- February 7 – Sean O’Brien 100k (California)
- February 14 – Black Canyon 100k (Arizona)
- March 28 – Gorge Waterfalls 100k (Oregon)
- April 11 – Lake Sonoma 50 Mile (California)
At each race, up to two men and two women will be awarded spots.
A change was made to the 2015 Montrail Ultra Cup from the previous year; through 2014, 30 spots were awarded to Western States through the MUC, but for this year, only 20 spots will be awarded. After the announcement of the 2015 Montrail Ultra Cup, Western States 100 Race Director Craig Thornley previously explained to iRunFar how the extra 10 spots would be distributed in 2015:
“Five of those entries have been reabsorbed into the standard WS100 Lottery process to be applied to all applicants, and five will be allocated to sponsor use to be outlined later. So stay tuned for that announcement later.”
Western States President Tim Twietmeyer announced today at the lottery that the five additional spots will be awarded to runners entered in the lottery who run one of the five Montrail Ultra Cup Races. Each race will conduct a drawing to determine the one runner from their race to be granted an entry.
Ultra-Trail World Tour
For 2015, six slots will be given to top international contenders via the Western States 100’s participation in the Ultra-Trail World Tour. Details on who will be awarded these UTWT slots in 2015 is forthcoming.
Call for Comments (from Meghan)
- Any contenders who are already in the race who we’ve not included above?
- Who can you see winning the women’s and men’s races in 2014?
- Anyone you’re hoping will try to gain entry via the Ultra-Trail World Tour or Montrail Ultra Cup? If you’re a speedster and are going to try to get in via either route, let us know!
