After finishing 10th last year, Chris Myers stepped it up to finish second at the 2025 Western States 100. In the following interview, Chris talks a bit about his running background, what it was like knowing that Kilian Jornet was quickly closing the gap behind him in the final miles, how he was emotionally ok with being second to Caleb Olson, and the infamous snorkel-assisted river crossing at Rucky Chucky.
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.]
Chris Myers Post-2025 Western States 100 Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Chris Myers after a second-place finish at the 2025 Western States 100. How are you, Chris?
Chris Myers: I’m doing so good today. I feel million bucks.
iRunFar: Totally. You’re definitely not going to pass out anytime today.
Myers: Yeah. I almost passed out at the award ceremony. I’m just standing there, and my ears start ringing, and I’m like, “Is this really going to happen?” And I was like, trying to take a deep breath, and I was like, “Oh.” And then I just started breaking out in a sweat, and people are like, “Are you okay?” Then I’m like, “Well, yeah. I think I’m okay.” And then I just memory and vision kind of tunneled a little bit, and then I sat on the table. My legs were a little unstable, so I was like rocking around. Yeah.
iRunFar: Oh, boy.
Myers: It’s what happens when you try and put it all out there.
iRunFar: We’ll get to that. But first, this is our first on-camera interview. So we like to find out folks’ athletic backgrounds. How did you get into sports, and what’s your history?
Myers: So I ran cross-country in high school. I just remember being like, “Man, running is super hard.” It’s like what you do for punishment in other sports, or just general, “We’re going to warm up with a run.” You’re always like, “Ugh.” And I joined the cross-country team kind of more as a social outlet.
iRunFar: Mm hmm.
Myers: And then I was like, “I really suck at this. I want to see if I can get better at it.” So here I am, still trying. But then I ran a little bit in college, on our college club team, because I was too cool to do NCAA. But you know, I’m there for school and there’s a really great atmosphere to find people that really love running rather than like, “Oh, my scholarship.”
iRunFar: It’s kind of like a running club or were you doing certain distance?
Myers: We competed at NIRCA, the National Intercollegiate Running Association.
iRunFar: Mm hmm.
Myers: I think we won one year. We went to Louisville, Kentucky. It was pretty cool. But yeah. So after college, I was like, “What do I do? Do I do road runs? Do I do half marathons?” So I went back home because I grew up in Southern California, kind of north if LA in the High Desert. So I was just doing all my runs in the trails. And then one of my friends was like,”Hey, you should maybe sign up for an ultra,” because I’m doing 20-mile long runs in the desert. I’m like, “Well, that’s not too much longer. Like, 31 miles.” So I did my first ultra. It was called Bulldog 50k. It’s a two-looper in Malibu in the middle of August. And I just saw the race director on the course climbing out of towards Michigan Bluff.
iRunFar: That’s cool.
Myers: It was nice to see him out there because that’s where my start was, and he was out there congratulating me. And I was very lucky no one fast showed up to that race because I was able to win it. And I cramped up. I didn’t eat a single thing. Oh, I think I had like, a Honey Stinger gel and then just maybe some water, and I was just wrecked. But I think getting that first win really kind of stoked a little fire. So I was like, “Okay. Maybe I should keep doing this.” And then I just kept doing it and doing it, and then I’ve been having a pretty good luck ever since.
iRunFar: And when was that first Bulldog 50k?
Myers: 2019. I’m still pretty new to this.
iRunFar: Yeah. I was going to say you’re still pretty new. And watching last year’s race and writing the preview of this race, I kind of thought last year’s tenth place here was probably your best performance to that point.
Myers: I mean, I told people I thought I could do an hour faster.
iRunFar: Yeah.
Myers: And it was really nice to go an hour and one minute faster.
iRunFar: Yeah.
Myers: Well, I did some very basic napkin math. I’m like, “Okay, I lost my downhill legs 50 miles in.” 50 miles is, you know, quite a lot of time to not be able to run smoothly, or effectively, through pushing through some pain. And I was just like, “Alright. I think there’s an hour out there based on my fitness.” So it was like, you always try to believe in yourself as much as you can, but to kind of execute that, it was very rewarding.
iRunFar: Yeah. So, where were the biggest changes in your prep and execution from last year to this year to go eight places and in an hour and a minute faster?
Myers: So there’s a few things. I think I took this attitude into Black Canyon [50k] when I raced to a Golden Ticket. You have to burn some matches. You have to stay in the mix, because if you don’t stay in the mix, people just get ahead. And while they might fade, you’re just never going to catch them if they get a significant amount ahead.
iRunFar: Mm hmm.
Myers: Kilian [Jornet] almost got me at the end, but I think I put enough time into him to just be able to hang on and ride the decline. So, racing strategy was a bit different, more aggressive. And then, I had some nutrition stuff. I’m still dialing my salt and sodium consumption because it’s a little hit or miss. I tend to cramp up. And I did some cramping last year that kind of, you know, spiraled into really aggressive pain on all the downhills. And also, I think my training was a little bit too aggressive too close to the race.
iRunFar: Last year?
Myers: Yeah. Last year. So this year, I worked on those two things, and I think I had huge success, because my downhill legs were mostly there for the whole race.
iRunFar: And did you change any training with respect to downhill specifically for this year’s race?
Myers: A bit. I started doing a lot more aggressive strength training where we do a lot of depth drops. I’ve been working with a great strength coach, Higher Ground Athletics, Keith Miller. He’s amazing. He’s very focused on what he does, and we just identified it as a problem from last year and then we’re like, “We’re going to work on this.” And I think it worked out pretty well.
iRunFar: Yeah. Did you feel strong and confident on those descents all the way to the finish?
Myers: Yeah. But it’s kind of crazy thinking about that you run like a, not a record time, but a very fast time, but then you feel like you’re moving so slow those last thirty, forty miles. I’m like,”Oh, I can do a normal run like twice this or not twice this fast, but just significantly faster.” And I’m looking at my watch and I’m like, “Wait a second. I think I’m going to be in the low fourteens.” And I was like, “But I feel so slow. Is this possible?” So it’s kind of crazy that like, 100 miles come down to just staying smooth rather than running fast the entire time. Especially with the net downhill course where you’re just beating your legs up.
iRunFar: Yeah. If you can continue to execute that back half that last quarter, you can add so much time or you can,
Myers: Yeah. But I felt like I was crawling. I was just trying just to push myself past the pain because I feel like I had gas the entire time, but it was just hard to, because when you just want to relax, you don’t want to hurt, hurt, hurt. But pushing yourself to hurt, hurt, hurt the whole time, that I think that’s where, you know, ultrarunning really is special. You’re kind of ignoring all the alarms.
iRunFar: But I don’t know that everybody can do that, at least not for very long. So like, do you work on that mental mindset intentionally? Or do you just have like?
Myers: I just kind of lock in. No. I mean, it helps when you have Kilian behind you and second place at Western States is kind of motivating you.
iRunFar: Yeah.
Myers: I mean, racing is very mental. Like, I wanted to stop running at mile 70. I’m like, “I have to do another 50 kilometers after this and I’m like, in a good position. Why can’t the race be over now?” Like, I should just do 100ks. But to stay in it and just realize that anything can happen, but also if you stay in it, what you want can happen, will happen.
iRunFar: Yeah. So I don’t know how many miles, 50 miles or more, where you were essentially two or three minutes behind Caleb [Olson].
Myers: Yeah.
iRunFar: Were you getting those updates and you were like, “When the hell is this guy going to come back?”
Myers: So I wasn’t so much chasing after Caleb. I was more running away from who was behind me, because I knew if I caught up to Caleb, we would have worked together. We kind of discussed this earlier in the race after Dusty Corners that we wanted to work together, but we were also very cognizant of the fact that we’re also going to both race our races.
iRunFar: Yeah.
Myers: So I’m very honored to be beaten by Caleb, because he was the man that that day. He showed up and had his cool outfit. And I just was like, “I am emotionally okay with Caleb being ahead of me,” but I wanted no one to catch me. People were telling me the split to front to the first place, and I was like, “I don’t care. How far back is third?” And then the aid station volunteers were like, “You got two minutes. You got five minutes.” I’m like, “No, no, no, no.” I’m like, trying to hang on and not fade. And then when they told me Kilian was like, nine minutes back at one point, I was trying to do like math. I’m like, “If I run a 9:00 mile for the last five miles, I think I can stay ahead of him. Because he would have to do like a 6:30 mile to do that, and it was just like, I was just trying to like rationalize to myself.
iRunFar: Now, to try to parse it a little bit. Were you running scared, or were you running like, cognizant?
Myers: There’s always fear, because like I was saying earlier, the race isn’t over till it’s over. And it came down to like, what I thought was a sprint finish. And I turned around and Kilian wasn’t there. Because my crew was like, “Oh, we have to go now.” I’m like, oh, no. Because last year at States, we turned around at Robie Point, and we saw Blake Slattergren, and it came down to the sprint finish. We were on the track at the same time. He was thirty seconds back. And that’s my curse with States now, having to run a really fast last mile. I think the last 0.7 mile of States was like 6:07 pace, which is kind of stupid.
iRunFar: That’s cruising.
Myers: So I had gas the entire time. It’s just a matter of how much I wanted to hurt.
iRunFar: Yeah. And if you don’t have to, there’s risk in going up to 99.5% of maximum because then the wheels can blow off.
Myers: Yeah. There’s some great pictures of me just like, “Augh!” at the end. Just full on like, game face.
iRunFar: Oh my goodness.
Myers: I was ready to, I mean, you can make yourself hurt as much as you want for a mile.
iRunFar: That’s true.
Myers: I think, at least. I mean, it depends on the mile, but I was ready to make myself hurt.
iRunFar: Did you have any low points along the way?
Myers: Oh, tons. I think my descent into the river, from Foresthill, was pretty tough. Just trying to like, put time into, you know, how far back third place was. And last year, I didn’t have any problems running uphill, but this year, I was getting some tightness. I’m like, “Oh, no. What if my race just like, goes away because I can’t do uphill.” I’m like, “I can kind of do downhill,” but like, it’s always the self-doubt. Like, “Oh, what’s going to happen? Am I going to get passed? Am I going to blow up? Am I going to lose hope?” So pretty much, from Foresthill on, there were quite a few low points. But I mean, that’s just trail racing. You just got to hope that there’s more carnage behind you than what’s going on currently with you.
iRunFar: Any highlights along the way that stand out?
Myers: I think the river crossing was a highlight for me.
iRunFar: And why was that? How did you get this idea?
Myers: Okay. About not quite a year ago, but shortly after States last year, I really wanted to come back and have fun with the race. Because it’s no fun to be super serious, because then you put a lot of pressure on yourself, but almost going through the movements of taking the pressure off and being silly really helped me. I think my race turned around a little bit after the river crossing because I crossed wearing a snorkel because like, what’s more ridiculous than a guy doing this? Like, you can basically walk the whole thing waist deep with the snorkel on. I just had a vision in my head of like, “How silly is this?”
iRunFar: And a full mask. And you had the mask on. You didn’t have the snorkel. I never saw that.
Myers: Oh, I put it in. I put it in for a second, but the mask covers your nose so you can’t breathe. So I’m like, no. But I did for a few pictures.
iRunFar: You tried.
Myers: Yeah. I tried. You gotta commit to the bit. And my crew was very, like, “It’s really funny, but what if you lose time?” I’m like, “I gotta do it. I gotta do it.” And coming into Rucky Chucky, my pacer Eli Heming was like, “You sure you want to be silly?” I’m like, “Yes. I want to be silly.” And then we did it, and it worked out. And I think everyone had a good time with it.
iRunFar: Oh, for sure.
Myers: I had a good time with it. And it’s just like, “What if it cost me a few seconds? So what?” I think it’s worth it for like, feeling happy and funny. And then it’s a memory that I have, and now I have that snorkel mask and I’m like, “Remember when I crossed Rucky Chucky in this?”
iRunFar: I mean it could’ve risked a couple seconds, but on the other hand it probably gained you minutes from that positive mindset and happiness. Like, it literally could’ve been the difference between Kilian running you down or not.
Myers: We had about two minutes, so I think it’s an acceptable margin. Hey. It’s better than thirty seconds. Thirty seconds seems tight. Two minutes feels like, pretty open.
iRunFar: Yeah. I mean, next year you might beat the next guy by three and a half minutes.
Myers: Oh, I don’t know if I need to come back.
iRunFar: I was going to say walking down the stairs, the sound of like, never again.
Myers: Well, I’m never going to say never again, but definitely not next year. I think there’s other races to focus on because I think, Golden Ticket, a top 10, and a podium, it fills my cup. I mean, what else? Coming back for the win, that’s so tough. It’s also a lot of pressure.
iRunFar: Mm hmm.
Myers: When I’ve already achieved pretty much every goal I set out to do. I remember one of my photographer friends was biking with me the day before. I did a shakeout with Scott Jurek and then I was … yeah, subtle flex.
iRunFar: Yeah, yeah. Little name drop.
Myers: Yeah. And I was asking him, like, “I know you get asked this a lot, but what kind of advice would you give?” And he said, “You gotta stay in it. Anything can happen, and you have to do your best. Not even try. You have to do your best.” And just gave me some really good knowledge. And on my way back, I get a few minutes of just alone time, and then the photographer, Noah Clavin, pulls up and he was like, “How you feeling?” I’m like, “You know what? I thought I was going to be satisfied with top 10, maybe top five, but I’m going to go for the podium. I need to do it. Like, this is my time. This is my race. Because I don’t really want to come back after this race, so now’s the time to be aggressive and do it.” And it felt really weird saying it out loud because I don’t like, you know, I like to under promise and over deliver if possible. But it felt really strange just being like, I think I’m going to do it. I’m going to go for it this year. And it was my year to take risks, and it paid off.
iRunFar: And it paid off. Has it sunk in? Like, you ran one of the fastest times ever here. I mean, within minutes.
Myers: Yeah. It feels surreal. I mean, I think it’s going to take me a good week or so to really, you know, appreciate what I’ve done. Because right now, I’m just like, “My toes hurt.” Walking downstairs feels like agony.
iRunFar: You might pass out at the awards.
Myers: Almost pass out. I was like, “This is going to be so embarrassing, but it might be kind of funny.” Yeah. Like, it’s going to take some time to sink in, I think. But I think, I didn’t want to count my chickens too early, but I was thinking during the race, this could change my life. And, I mean, hopefully for the better. Hopefully, for the better. Yeah. It’s very validating because I remember I moved to Boulder, Colorado, from Southern California before Black Canyon, and it felt like a big gamble. And then I got a ticket. I’m like, it was worth it. Top 10 is, it just feels very validating to make a huge life choice and then see, you know, reaping some benefit.
iRunFar: Yeah. I mean, speaking of that, like, what does your life look like?
Myers: Oh, so technically I have a full-time job, which gives me very flexible work schedule. I can do unlimited unpaid time off, which is awesome when you have a running sponsor so you can, you know, I’m taking six weeks off to go up to Europe and do CCC and I’m hopefully not losing money. But, you know, it’s very hard to balance a running career and a normal career. But I’m very, very fortunate to have a job that’s fully remote that allows me to, you know, take a lot of time in the morning to go run.
iRunFar: Right on. So I was going to ask you what might you have planned for later this summer, but it sounds like CCC?
Myers: Yeah. You know, I gotta try my hand at some Euro races. Again, hope for the best. It’s probably going to be a learning experience because I’m not super good at hiking yet. So we’re going to work on that and, you know, it’s always great to get out to the Chamonix area. It’s just so beautiful. I went out there last year and was able to preview the course for CCC. So I’m just excited to run on some beautiful alpine trails.
iRunFar: Nice. Well, congratulations on your great run here yesterday, and enjoy Europe this summer.
Myers: I will
