After finishing fifth last year, Fiona Pascall (U.K.) lines up for the 2026 Western States 100 hoping to improve on her time. In the following interview, Fi talks about her relationship with the race, how her older sister, 2021 Western States champion Beth Pascall, influenced her running, her past three months of living and training in the U.S., and the small niggle she dealt with leading up to the race.
To learn more about who’s racing, check out our women’s and men’s previews before following our live race coverage on race day.
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Fiona Pascall Pre-2026 Western States 100 Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Eszter Horanyi with iRunFar. I’m here with Fi Pascall. We’re a few days before the 2026 Western States 100. How are you?
Fiona Pascall: I’m good, thanks. Yeah, thanks for having me. I’m feeling pretty good. It’s been a fairly tough, up-and-down block, but I feel like things have kind of come together last minute, so I’m feeling strong.
iRunFar: So we were talking, you were dealing with a bit of a niggle, which I want to get to, but first, you were fifth here last year at your debut at the event. That brought you back this year. What sort of expectations does that give you coming into this year?
Pascall: Oh, that’s a really difficult question.
iRunFar: Should we start with an easier one?
Pascall: [laughs] I can answer. I think the plan was always for it to be a two-year project. Last year was about hopefully getting top 10 and coming back, and then this one was going to be about being a little more aggressive. I’m still hoping to do that. With the block not being absolutely perfect, I’d be really happy to improve my time this year, but I’d also probably be very happy just to finish. So we’ll see what happens. I’m going to set out with the same mission and just kind of hope that I’m a little bit faster.
iRunFar: Because this is your first interview on camera with iRunFar, I’d love to hear a little bit of background. You’ve got, in Western States circles, a pretty famous older sister. How did you get into trail running? What’s the background there?
Pascall: Well, you’ve answered it already, really. I’d done a little bit of trail running. In fact, I just called it running, because I’d never really run on the road. But then Beth [Pascall] getting into ultra kind of opened my eyes to the whole world of it. She did her Bob Graham Round in 2021 and I just thought it was so cool. I really loved the community and the atmosphere and everything, so I decided to do a Bob Graham Round in 2022. I wasn’t trying to get the record, I was just trying to get round. And I did. Then actually immediately after that, I was sitting on a bench, having finished the Bob Graham Round with my head between my legs, feeling really sick, and Beth was sitting next to me saying, “I really think you should think about your trail running career.” Because she said I didn’t even train for the Bob Graham Round. I was like, “I did train.” But I didn’t train properly with a coach or anything like that. So she was the one who pushed me into working a bit harder, and from there I just fell in love with the training.
iRunFar: And do you think wanting to come to Western States is a direct influence from Beth?
Pascall: Yeah, I think so. I followed the race, and it’s so iconic. I think I would probably want to come even if Beth hadn’t, but she just loved it so much, and always talked about it with such fondness, that it was always something I was going to want to do.
iRunFar: We were talking off camera just before this that when you won your Golden Ticket for last year, you were maybe a little hesitant about coming to race last year. Could you talk a little about that?
Pascall: Yeah, sure. I went to Chianti [Ultra-Trail] last year because I wanted a competitive race. I was 100% sure I wasn’t going to take my ticket as I was racing. And then I got the ticket, and it was quite difficult to let go of it. I was like, “Oh, I kind of like this. This feels good.” So there was a real scramble to see if it was possible financially to come out here. My husband and I were setting up a business at the time, so we were trying to see if we could sort things out to make it logistically possible. It was quite a stressful experience, just figuring out whether we could do it. And obviously you have to reply to Craig [Thornley] (the Western States race director) in two weeks, so there was a bit of a push there. We actually sold our van to pay for the tickets to get out here. So it was tricky, but it was definitely a good decision.
iRunFar: Was there a tipping point, something that finally made you decide to come?
Pascall: Yeah. I spoke to Beth about it, and she pushed me gently towards going. She said, “It’s not that expensive. You can do it.” We camped last year, and we did a similar thing this year, so we did it in a fun way without spending loads and loads of money, but still spending enough time here to commit to the race properly. I think it was just the feeling that people wait their whole lives to get into Western States, and it almost felt ungrateful to not take it.
iRunFar: Fair. So last year, I’m not going to say you started out slow, but you started out slower than basically the rest of the women’s elite field. You were 17th at the top of the Escarpment, and you didn’t hit the top 10 until halfway. Was that the plan?
Pascall: Yeah. I mean, that’s just how I race. I’m not very fast at running.
iRunFar: Okay. [laughs]
Pascall: [laughs] It’s difficult for me to set out too fast. I’m never going to be the first to the top of the Escarpment, I think. The plan was to cruise the first six hours and then go from there. I was very lucky to have Ian Sharman pacing me from Foresthill to the river as well, and he was saying, If you’ve got the legs from the river, that’s where you really start racing. And that’s exactly what happened. He kind of held me back a little there, and then I was just reeling people in. That does tend to be how I race generally.
iRunFar: Okay. So it was fully intentional, with 20 miles left to go, that’s when you were going to step on the gas?
Pascall: Yeah.
iRunFar: When you crossed that finish line in fifth, was it immediately, well of course I’m going to come back next year?
Pascall: Yeah, I think really I knew I was going to come back anyway, because I always had it in my mind as a two-year project.
iRunFar: So learn it the first year, figure it out, see the course, figure out the pacing, and then come back.
Pascall: Exactly, yeah.
iRunFar: This year a lot has happened. You joined a new team in February. You basically moved to the U.S. seemingly.
Pascall: [laughs] Yeah, don’t tell your president that. I will leave.
iRunFar: After 89 days you’ll be out of the country. [laughs] I’d love to hear about that. It feels like you’ve really dedicated yourself to your trail running in the past six months or year. Could you speak to that?
Pascall: Totally. I’ve been really lucky to have a really good contract with adidas running, and it’s so much fun being a professional trail runner. I just want to make the most of it. Obviously, we have a limited amount of time we can spend in this sport, and it’s been so awesome to be able to commit a 100% to it. This year that commitment meant I was going to spend a lot of time in the U.S. I came out for Lake Sonoma [100k] in April, and I could have flown back for a month and then come back out again, but I didn’t really want to do too much international travel with the jet lag and the illness opportunities you get on flights. I decided to stay out. I live at sea level in the U.K. and living at altitude is obviously going to be a bit of an advantage, so I thought, why not lean into it? Now’s the opportunity.
iRunFar: So where have you spent the last three months?
Pascall: After Lake Sonoma, I went to Auburn. I stayed with my new teammate, Emily Hawgood, which was amazing. Just recovering low and seeing a bit of the course there, and then headed over to Flagstaff for all of May. It’s amazing. So good. I think my training was a little different this year, because of my, let’s call it a niggle. I was doing a lot of uphill running. Not the kind of every week going down to the Grand Canyon thing that a lot of runners are doing. But it’s amazing to be living in a real town. This is really strange in Europe, living in a real town at 2,100 meters, or whatever that is in feet. It was really, really cool, and having a bunch of other athletes around was awesome as well.
iRunFar: And speaking of that niggle, how’s that feeling? We’re about four days out from race day. How’s that going?
Pascall: I think it’s okay. I think it’s good. I’ve had a really good block. It hasn’t looked like a normal Western States block with a lot of uphill running, a lot of running on the flats, loads of rehab, not that much mileage. But actually I’m fit. I know I’m a stronger athlete than I was last year. And the injury, I think I’ve done just enough to keep myself fit and just little enough to stop the injury from getting worse. It’s been gradually getting better. It’s definitely a lot better than it was a month ago, and a lot better than I could have hoped for it to be really. So I’m really, really happy.
iRunFar: So are you feeling like you’re coming into this with a decent amount of confidence that it’s all going to turn out okay?
Pascall: Yeah. I don’t generally have a huge amount of confidence in myself, but yeah, as much confidence as I could have hoped for. [laughs]
iRunFar: We look forward to seeing you race out there. Best of luck.
Pascall: Thank you. Thanks so much. Thanks for having me on.
iRunFar: Thank you.
