Caleb Olson won the 2025 Western States 100 with the second fastest time in the history of the race, just two minutes off the course record. In the following interview, Caleb talks about what he’s changed since finishing fifth at the event last year, what time was on his very aggressive split sheet, what it was like having Chris Myers chasing him down in the final miles of the race, and more about the Nike shirt he was wearing that stole the show.
For more on how the race played out, read our in-depth 2025 Western States 100 results article.
[Editor’s Note: If you are unable to see the video above, click here to access it.]
Caleb Olson, 2025 Western States 100 Champion, Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Meghan Hicks of iRunFar. I’m with Caleb Olson. It’s the day after your win of the 2025 Western States 100. How does that feel?
Caleb Olson: It feels really good. I never really thought that I would be a winner of Western States, so it’s pretty amazing.
iRunFar: I think you used about everything you had for that win yesterday.
Olson: I think so, too. Yeah. I took a big shot there and ended up maybe overdoing it slightly, but it was enough to hang on for the win.
iRunFar: So, let’s zoom backwards just a little bit because you were at this race last year for your debut run. You had an incredible performance, but yet you bettered that by something like a half hour yesterday. Take us back to this day last year. Did you just sort of set your sights on, okay, I did that really well, but I think I can do better, or what happened in the year since then?
Olson: Yeah. I did feel like I did it well and could do better, but I also finished last year thinking like, that was probably good enough for me. Like, I don’t know that I needed to do better.
iRunFar: Okay.
Olson: And, but I had the opportunity. Like, I got the spot back in and so I was like, I’ll just save my spot in case I end up wanting it. And then I had a really good Transgrancanaria, and was really happy with that, and that just got me excited about trying to see how much I could improve here. And I also started being coached and that has made a big difference with my training.
iRunFar: Okay.
Olson: So, I felt fitter than last year by a lot.
iRunFar: Okay.
Olson: And yeah, it made me want to come see what I could do.
iRunFar: And who’s your coach?
Olson: His name is Jack Kuenzle, with Evoke Endurance.
iRunFar: Yeah. Cool. So it was more like a, hey, training’s going really well. I win Transgrancanaria. Training has changed working with Jack and you’re thinking, okay, maybe this year will go faster?
Olson: Yeah. Basically, I think not only going faster, but also just knowing the course. Like, not only was it my first Western last year, it was my first 100 miler. So, knowing that I can run 100 miles and that I can finish it. And then also just how that feels deep in a 100-mile race. I think it was a little, it’s always intimidating but it was less intimidating this year because I had been through it before. So, I knew I could take more risks, be a little more aggressive, and hopefully still come out okay.
iRunFar: I want to talk about how the race played out, but first, there was one other really important factor going on in the background with your training and preparation. You have a brand new baby.
Olson: Yes. Marshall is two months old. That was another reason why I wasn’t sure if I’d come back this year. I just wanted to, I didn’t want to commit to it fully because I didn’t know how recovery and training would be affected. And I kind of just told myself we’ll see how it goes and I’ll do it if I can. And things went well. My wife, Morgan, took a ton of night shifts, making sure that I could sleep and recover, and that made the difference.
iRunFar: That’s pretty angelic, huh?
Olson: Yeah.
iRunFar: But it must have, I mean, just training and everything about your world must have been different the last two months.
Olson: Yeah. Definitely. I think it also kind of just gives you like, another purpose. I think running always kind of feels a little selfish, and leaving your baby and wife definitely feels selfish to go for a run.
iRunFar: Adds to it a little bit.
Olson: Yeah. So, you kind of have some guilt, but then also you know that this is kind of becoming a job. Like I’ve got some good sponsors, and I can actually make a difference for my family if I come out here and do well. So, I think that is a motivating part of it, too.
iRunFar: Let’s talk about how the race played out. You put yourself in it sort of straight away and didn’t look back. Is that a fair way to look at it?
Olson: Yeah. Pretty straight away. I’d say for the first 20 to 30 miles, I kind of was hanging in the back of the front pack, probably. And I didn’t want to just take the lead and put out too much energy on my own. But I do think I was feeling good, and I saw that I was able to keep up with everybody, and so I was getting confidence throughout the beginning.
iRunFar: So, you were, because it felt like you were sort of there from the get-go, but that felt, the early miles felt more passive to you. Like you were letting other people sort of set the pace and you were just sitting there to see what happens.
Olson: Yeah. There was one moment where I hopped in front because it was a little more technical and I like doing technical downhill and so I just hopped in and let it, because I felt good on that. But for the most part, I think I was kind of sitting back behind the first couple people and just riding off their energy.
iRunFar: What was it like, that sort of man train? It lasted for a really long time and stayed quite close together. What was that like?
Olson: It did last a while. It was actually really fun. I know a lot of those guys and I’m friends with them and it was fun to just be able to like, chat and see how everybody was feeling. But I think there’s something about, it’s almost like joining a Peloton in cycling. Like, there’s something about just hopping in the line with people like that that just pulls you along and feels good.
iRunFar: Feels easier maybe.
Olson: Yeah.
iRunFar: Yeah. Did you guys have any awareness of how fast you were running? That you were quite well below course record pace quite early?
Olson: Yeah. I had a lot of awareness of that.
iRunFar: [laughs]
Olson: I made a little spreadsheet before, and put some thought into like, where can I shave time off last year, with the intention of thinking it would be cool on an absolute best case scenario day to hit 13:59. So I made splits for 13:59, and I knew those splits, and I saw that we were hitting them and then got ahead of them. And I was like, well, this might actually happen. And then I eventually realized this isn’t going to happen but, yeah, I figured if I shot big, even if I came up short, that would still end up being a good day.
iRunFar: How did the conditions feel this year compared to last?
Olson: Definitely hotter.
iRunFar: When did it hit?
Olson: Pretty quickly. I started, I brought an ice vest with me, or like, an ice bandana in my vest from the beginning and I put it on at the first aid station, Lyon Ridge.
iRunFar: Oh, interesting.
Olson: And started filling it up with ice and never stopped.
iRunFar: Okay. And yet you guys were still running pretty quick for a long time.
Olson: Yeah. It felt hotter, but I think there’s also just a good, deep, fit group of guys out there that can handle the heat better this year. It seems like people did a lot more heat training to prepare.
iRunFar: The field was pretty close, like, through mile 40-ish, and then maybe going up Devil’s Thumb in that area is when the man train breakup started happening.
Olson: Yeah.
iRunFar: Okay.
Olson: Going up Devil’s Thumb, I think it was just me and Chris [Myers] by that point.
iRunFar: Mm hmm.
Olson: I know other people weren’t that far back but,
iRunFar: It felt like it was,
Olson: It felt like it was me and Chris just kind of working together pushing up that climb.
iRunFar: And then it was after that, going up into Michigan Bluff, I think, that you created a gap on Chris as well.
Olson: Yeah. Chris took a little bathroom break real quick and after that, there was just a little bit of a gap. I could see him. He wasn’t that far back. But he never fully closed that gap again.
iRunFar: And then I guess it was in the Michigan Bluff, Foresthill, top of Cal Street where you established a roughly five minute gap on Chris, and that never changed. Like I mean, it was like four minutes, six minutes, five minutes, four minutes, six minutes. Were you aware of what was going on there? Were you just doing your thing and hoping to stick it?
Olson: Yeah. No. I wish I had just been doing my thing, but I was definitely aware. I was worried he was gaining on me, and I was feeling really bad from Green Gate to the finish, and I could feel myself just losing a ton of time. And luckily for me, unluckily for him, I think he was also feeling bad at those same points, because the gap stayed pretty similar even though we were both slowing down a lot.
iRunFar: Did you have any awareness that Kilian [Jornet] was starting to cut into both you and Chris?
Olson: Yeah. I was getting some updates on him, too. He was far enough back that, like, my quick mental math kind of told me, with 10 miles to go, he’d have to do a minute per mile faster than me to catch me.
iRunFar: So, you’d have to really slow down.
Olson: Yeah. I’d have to really die, and I was really dying. But then in the last five miles, I was like, I can’t let myself get caught now. I’ve got to just push. And so I kind of pulled myself out of it.
iRunFar: Did you let yourself in any moment there, like, a couple miles from the finish, where it’s like, okay, I know there’s five minutes of daylight between me and Chris. Did you let yourself start to let it sink in or were you like, all the way to the line?
Olson: No. I did let it sink in. I really wanted the course record, and I think that would have been really cool, but going up, like basically starting the climb up to Robie Point, I was like, it’s too tight. Like, I’m going to have to absolutely kill myself to try and go for it and that just sounds terrible at this point in the race. I’d rather have a good experience and enjoy the moment. And so, I did push up that climb still to see if I could keep it within reach, but once I hit Robie Point and got over that final hill, I think it was more just switching into enjoyment mode, spending time with the crew. And, yeah, taking it all in.
iRunFar: You finished in 14:11, the second fastest time in history, just around two minutes slower than Jim Walmsley’s 2019 time.
Olson: Mm hmm.
iRunFar: That must feel pretty good.
Olson: Yeah. Definitely. I mean, no one besides Jim has done that, so that’s cool company to be in.
iRunFar: Of course the question is, you came back and bettered yourself by something close to a half hour this year. You had on the split card sub fourteen hours.
Olson: Mm hmm.
iRunFar: Okay. That’s like a little bit of an elephant in the room. How do you feel about that today?
Olson: You mean like coming back and going forward or something?
iRunFar: Yeah. You know, just that sitting there of that carrot.
Olson: I think somebody will do it soon. I think Jim could easily do it on any given year basically. But I don’t think, I think I’ve gotten everything I need out of Western States, and I’ve done it twice in a row now, and I’d like to go check out some other races.
iRunFar: What are you hungry to do?
Olson: I mean same day as Western, Lavaredo seems pretty cool. I’ve never tried UTMB. Maybe now that I’ve proven to myself that I can do 100 miles, maybe it’s time to start doing some harder 100-milers that would take longer. I don’t know. Right now, I’m mostly just wanting to not run and take some time off.
iRunFar: Sit on the couch. Hold your baby.
Olson: Yeah. Exactly.
iRunFar: There’s a lot of people on the internet talking about your fashion yesterday. Your shirt.
Olson: Yep.
iRunFar: You want to talk about that?
Olson: Sure. Yeah. Nike made some pretty cool innovative top that I’ve gotten a lot of funny comments about how it looks like grandma knitted it or something, but it actually has some pretty cool technology behind it. I spent a lot of time in a heat chamber treadmill kind of set up on Nike campus testing it out with sensors all over my body.
iRunFar: Doing like, heat mapping to see where it was letting heat out and where it was needed to be modified or?
Olson: Yeah. Some of that and just seeing comparing it to this shirt that I would often wear for races like this. I wore a similar shirt last year. So just comparing how effective it is, and trying out different combinations of outfits basically until I found the one that kept me the coolest.
iRunFar: It literally kept you the coolest according to the sensors.
Olson: According to the sensors and according to like, my perception of it. Yeah. So, I felt pretty confident wearing it, it might look a little funny. I don’t know. Some people like it. Some people don’t.
iRunFar: I love it.
Olson: I think it kept me stay a lot cooler, and it was really nice.
iRunFar: For me, what was interesting was to see the gaps in the fabric, like under the armpits, and in the fold of your arm.
Olson: Yeah. Armpits and elbows. It really heavily relies on air flowing through it. And being wet. So, if you’ve got it wet and air is flowing, then you stay pretty cool with it on.
iRunFar: You live in the Wasatch Mountains. That’s a pretty cool place to play.
Olson: Yeah.
iRunFar: Do you have some non-race related adventures or things once the body heals up a little bit to just to get out and play a little bit?
Olson: I’ve been definitely itching to get up into the Wasatch Mountains more. I don’t get up there very often during Western training because it’s not really what you need, but I’m definitely excited to, my next race on the calendar is Worlds [Trail and Mountain Running World Championships], so that lends itself well to doing some more verty, like, hiking in the mountains kind of days.
iRunFar: Vertical, technical.
Olson: Exactly. Yeah. I’m really looking forward to that. I don’t have any real specific project I want to like, give a hard effort or anything, but I’m just ready to go enjoy it.
iRunFar: Cool.
Olson: Yeah.
iRunFar: Congratulations on your win of the 2025 Western States 100 and yeah, really exciting to watch you at Worlds.
Olson: Thank you.
