Making her 100-mile debut, Jenn Lichter ran a sensational race to set a new course record at the 2026 Western States 100. In the following interview, Jenn talks about the fast race and incredible depth of competition, her own carefully calculated race strategy, and when she knew she had a chance to break Courtney Dauwalter’s previous record.
For more on how the race played out, read our in-depth 2026 Western States 100 results article.
[Editor’s Note: If you are unable to see the video above, click here to watch it.]
Jenn Lichter, 2026 Western States 100 Champion, Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Meghan Hicks of iRunFar. I’m with Jenn Lichter. She’s the champion of the 2026 Western States Endurance Run. You’re the champion. Congratulations.
Jenn Lichter: Thank you so much.
iRunFar: How does that sit? How does that feel?
Lichter: I mean, it’s kind of surreal to be honest and I think I’m still processing it and it might take a little bit, but yeah, I’m just sitting in the amazement of it all and just happy that everything clicked for me.
iRunFar: Oh my God. I loved your emotion at the finish line. You just let it all out. What did that feel like?
Lichter: Oh, man. It’s funny because I think I was envisioning that going into the race and the moment of getting on the track and being in the lead and winning and that visualization I think for it to come to fruition was just all consuming, I guess, and kind of surreal. Yeah.
iRunFar: A debut 100 miler, a win, and a course record, that is quite the start the 100-mile running.
Lichter: Yeah.
iRunFar: All you have to say about that is yeah, I did that.
Lichter: I don’t know. It’s hard for me to, I guess, I don’t know, like move on from that I guess right now because it went so perfect and so smooth and everything just felt so flawless and, yeah, it was just I felt like I was in a flow state and I don’t know, I guess I’m excited to maybe do some more.
iRunFar: After you feel like that-
Lichter: I’m going to take some time to really digest this. But no, I think this definitely makes me excited to try different 100 miles as well because they’re so different. But yeah, definitely good confidence boost coming out of that.
iRunFar: I kept thinking, what you said to us in your pre-race interview that kept sticking with me yesterday was that you said you want to be part of a race that helps go fast and like you want to be a person who’s thought of that. There were so many times during yesterday’s race that you could see you sort of confidently setting the pace. Was that going through your mind at all? Like I want to run a good race. I want to do this well for women or were you trying to be flow state inside yourself?
Lichter: Yeah, I think it was a flow state inside myself. I knew that a lot of the women on the start line and in the race were very fit and I was confident that all we had to do was run our own race and react to moves, but still race within ourselves. It is 100 miles, a long time to race and so being smart about that. But I guess for me, I knew that if I was smart and I raced the race in an effort that I knew was sustainable for me and showcased my fitness that it would probably be a fast time. And I think once I took the lead, I think that was my way of being like it’s go time essentially and I think I did help pull along. Riley [Brady] was chasing me all day.
At one point I was chasing her because she came into Dusty Corners first and yeah, I think I did what I set out to do and just happy that I was able to do that. I mean, gosh, what the top five all came under 16 hours, which is incredible.
iRunFar: Insane.
Lichter: Yeah. So I knew we could do that and I think it just took all of us wanting that because I think at one point we were all under course record. So yeah, it was really cool.
iRunFar: I think well beyond 40 miles into the race, the top 10 women were all under course record.
Lichter: I had no idea. I was just like-
iRunFar: You’re just running.
Lichter: Yeah, I was in the race and I was just so in it, but I mean I felt myself moving fast through that course and I was like, “I think I’m running pretty fast. I don’t know if there’s any more I can do without completely blowing up.” So yeah.
iRunFar: A couple questions about the first half of the race. It looked like you were sort of like pace setting for a good chunk there, but then like you said, Riley came through and led the race for a bit, but you had this split from Dusty Corners to Devil’s Thumb going through that canyon that was just way faster than anybody else. Was that because Riley had passed you in the miles before that and you just wanted to put some distance? Was that strategic or was that just how you were feeling in that moment you ran that section real quick?
Lichter: I think it was more strategic. I let Riley take the lead. She passed me heading into Dusty on that really long, long descent from Robinson Flat. I knew going to Dusty that she was in the lead and I purposely did not want to blow my quads up. I truly believe I could have kept up with Riley, but I didn’t want to start racing yet and so I just kept telling myself, “Steady, steady, steady.” And so once I got through Dusty heading to the first canyon up Devil’s Thumb, I think that section I wanted to… I did push a little bit because I wanted Riley in sight and so knowing that the canyon was coming up, I had a feeling that if I could catch up to them that I could really make a move up the first canyon. Just from looking at the race and running behind, I think I was climbing a little better. And so that was kind of my way of taking control of the race, I guess.
And yeah, I knew I was moving pretty fast through that section. I felt great moving fast and I think for me, I was just wanting Riley in my sight at that point because she kind of… I hadn’t seen her for a while and I didn’t want to let them get too far ahead where then it was potentially harder to catch up and I had more energy. I would have to use more energy to catch up. So yeah, it was more strategic.
iRunFar: Middle miles of the course, or I guess, yeah, like Foresthill, Cal Street, you had taken the lead and Riley was running a few minutes behind you sort of consistently aid station to aid station. In that section, were you getting reports on your gap on the lead or were you just running this by feel and we’ll see how this turns out?
Lichter: So prior to Foresthill, I hadn’t gotten any splits at Foresthill, I think it was the first time that I wanted to know how far back the ladies were and who was second, who was third, fourth, and what was the gap there because I wanted to come into Foresthill and then essentially that was my way of being like, “Nobody’s passing me now.” I’ve made it this far and-
iRunFar: We are done.
Lichter: Yes, and I will work and do anything I can to keep them off. So I wanted to assess my energy and do I have room to potentially chill until the river or something and then really start pushing and yeah, I think Micah and I did a little push in Cal 1, Cal 2. I was having a little trouble running down Cal 3. My feet were hurting really bad, which is why I did a shoe change at the Green Gate. And yeah, Riley made up some time, but once we got to Green Gate, that was my, “Okay, now we’re actually racing.” So yeah.
iRunFar: That’s exactly what it looked like on paper was that you kept a couple minute gap essentially until Green Gate and from there it was the final 20 miles. Just let it rip as best as you can.
Lichter: Just let it rip. Yep.
iRunFar: That’s a difficult section of this course. It’s 80 miles. You can run, I don’t know, almost every step on a fresh day. How did it go 80 miles in?
Lichter: Honestly, it went really great. I definitely power hiked some of the steeper climbs knowing that I previewed the course before and I knew there were sections in the last 20 miles where I really wanted to have good climbing legs. And so strategically when you got kind of steep, then I would start power hiking and my coach told me that if you’re running over 15-minute miles, you should just power hike.
And so if I was running and I looked and he was like, “Oh, you’re running 16-minute miles,” and I just would stop and power hike because at that point it doesn’t matter. And so kind of managing my efforts on those climbs, but no, I think it’s crazy to say, but I felt so in control and so good and so steady throughout the entire race. I will say the last seven miles were probably the hardest where I was trying to keep myself together and not whimpering and crying a little bit. And then once we got a Robie, I was pretty much like, “Oh my gosh, this is happening.” And so yeah.
iRunFar: All of us fans watching the race were on course record watch like those last 20 miles, like each split would come in, we were checking against history. Were you aware of how close you were butting up against Courtney Dauwalter’s course record?
Lichter: I wasn’t aware until, I would say, probably climbing out of Robie.
iRunFar: Okay. Oh, wow. The very end.
Lichter: Yeah. My partner as I was coming out said, “Do you want a course record today?” Something like that. And in my head I’m so tired, I was like, “I don’t even know what that means right now.” Because I’m doing everything I can at that point and then once I saw the whole gang on that last section, like the last time I’m on the road, they’re like, “You’re 30 seconds ahead, you’re 30 seconds, you have to keep pushing if you want this, you have to keep pushing.” And it quite literally took everything I had to climb that and not power hike it.
And then yeah, I think once we hit that downhill into the track, I just had to close my eyes take a deep breath and just like try to dig something deeper and use it because it’s the last few minutes of the race and I didn’t matter if I blew up because I would blow up at the finish. I think at that point I was like, “Okay, then I’ll try to see how much if I can hold those 30 seconds or gain some and potentially not try to lose any.” So, I think honestly it wasn’t really on my mind as I was racing. I just wanted to do my own thing, give everything that I could and the time to me was like whatever it was, whatever it is because to me I just put everything out there and time is not going to take that away. But no, it was crazy finishing and seeing that and yeah, I’m still processing.
iRunFar: It’s funny how we get attached to data and numbers, but at the same time, ultrarunning is this very abstract thing. Like you just go out and run this really long distance and you don’t know how it’s going to turn out. Very dichotomous things.
Lichter: Yes.
iRunFar: It’s the day after the race, you’ve had, I don’t know, maybe a night of restless sleep and you’re about to go collect your cougar trophy. What are the things on your mind today?
Lichter: Gosh, I just can’t believe I did that and I think so many people dream of doing something like this and so I think for me it’s just soaking it in and being in the present and understanding what I did and yeah just being proud of myself because that was really hard and I think just soaking it in because gosh, it was really hard. It was really hard. And so I think just being grateful that I got the day that I knew I could and, yeah, Western States is wild.
iRunFar: I mean, that’s the perfect way to say it. What a wild race.
Lichter: Yes. Yes.
iRunFar: Jenn Lichter, congratulations on your course record-setting win of the 2026 Western States.
Lichter: Thank you.
