After two previous top-10 finishes, Ryan Montgomery returned to the 2026 Western States 100 to claim their first podium finish. In the following interview, Ryan talks about their whirlwind of life last year, recovery from major ankle surgery, and approaching this year’s race with the brakes off.
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.]
Ryan Montgomery Post-2026 Western States 100 Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Okay. Gabe Joyes here of iRunFar with Ryan Montgomery the day after the 2026 Western States 100, our third-place finisher. Ryan, congratulations.
Ryan Montgomery: Thank you.
iRunFar: How are you?
Montgomery: My legs feel not great, but that means we did it right yesterday.
iRunFar: Yeah, it’s not on camera, but you hobbled up here really nicely. It shows you had a good day. I want to back up a little bit before race day. I saw you in Tahoe City on the beach two days before the race and I thought you were so relaxed. I was like, “Is he actually racing? Is Ryan through the start line?” Tell us a little bit about your mindset going into the race, your mental prep, I guess.
Montgomery: I think a lot of my preparation this year was to deconstruct expectations. And I think as I’ve been working on sports performance and my mental state about racing is I always feel like, and I think this is true for a lot of things in life, when you set these expectations and things go awry, you either panic or you get disappointed. And so going into Western States, I’m like, I’m just going to have fun. I’m going to do things that bring me joy. So we bought pizzas and went down to the lake and did a polar plunge with pizza. I was just having fun and not trying to be too serious while also being serious at the same time.
iRunFar: Yeah, that’s amazing. How about the physical preparation? Because I was really curious about your build for Western States with the significant ankle surgery. Tell us about coming back from that and gaining confidence, trusting your body and all those things.
Montgomery: Thanks for asking because actually it was last Western States where I rolled my ankle in the high country and it required me to get ankle surgery. I had an ATFL repair and I had a loose piece of cartilage in my ankle that probably get chipped off at last year’s Western States. Last September, I had all those surgeries and just started running about like six months ago and it was like a pretty slow ramp. But yeah, I think as I reflect on my training, I felt like I was adequately pushing the envelope. In January, I remember doing my first long run and my ankle was a little sore and then I would come off of it. But then every time I went back to that same baseline, it was now higher. So I felt like I pushed it hard and aggressively but appropriately at the same time.
But yeah, my training was definitely not perfect. I’ve been navigating a lot of things in my life, but we got it done still.
iRunFar: Sounds like you thread the needle. And you had other changes in life, like a new job, is that right?
Montgomery: New job. I just graduated grad school. So this last month was so chaotic. I finished up my MBA program. I graduated flying across the country for training camps, going back to New Hampshire for graduation, moving back into my house in Utah. It’s just been a lot. But yeah, I felt like I pieced it all together.
iRunFar: I don’t know if chaos is the right word, but all those different things going on, do you think in some ways that helped you not be overly hyperfocused on Western States? Did it provide a bit of balance?
Montgomery: I definitely didn’t want all that stress to happen. Let’s just say my training would have been a lot better and definitely my recovery would have been a lot better without all those things. But I think I’m someone who really thrives off of pressure. I do really well with pressure and so I think navigating some things helps me almost give focus in my life. If I didn’t have other things to do, I don’t think I would be as precise in like, “Okay, I need to execute my workout exactly like this. I only have four hours so I’m going to get it done.” You know what I mean?
iRunFar: Yep. Increases the efficiency kind of thing.
Montgomery: Yeah. I have to create more efficiency in my life and sure you can make the argument that like, “Oh, maybe that’s not optimal for performance.”
iRunFar: It worked.
Montgomery: Yeah. I mean, running is still the most important thing in my life and so as long as that’s my focus, I feel like it still works.
iRunFar: Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Let’s take us to race day now. How were the paces at the start and the nice cool weather in Olympic Valley?
Montgomery: I mean, as someone who’s been running in New England the past two winters, it felt quite nice actually. I’ve been training in zero degree [Fahrenheit] temps every winter, so it was quite nice.
iRunFar: Good, good. What was your strategy at this start? Were you trying to stick with anyone?
Montgomery: So I mean, obviously with the cooler temps, I knew that it was going to be a fast day. And so early on, I just decided I have to run aggressive, like more aggressive than I’ve ever have before. So my intention was just like it’s not about necessarily running the race or racing for time. I’m just like I know what it’s going to feel like to run aggressively since I’ve done this a few times. And so I just stuck to that pace and it just happened to be the paces that we were doing.
iRunFar: Yeah, because you’ve had such great experience with top 10 finishes here. It seems like this year you let the handbrake off and just went for it.
Montgomery: Yeah. I mean, I didn’t feel like it was that crazy of like… I think at every aid station I was like shaving off minutes, which is more aggressive, but I didn’t feel like it was ever unsustainable in a way.
iRunFar: And you certainly look like you’re having fun out there. When I saw you at Deadwood Cemetery come flying by, I thought to myself, yeah, he’s going to have a good day. What was that like just running with joy through the mountains and the canyons?
Montgomery: I just kept telling myself, this was my mantra yesterday in the day before when I was like with my crew, I was like, “Today is my day.” And I just kept telling myself that. I’m like, “This is my day. I deserve to have this day.” I felt like as I’ve shared in other chats, I’m like, “I don’t feel like I’ve had my Western States where I feel satisfied and today is the day that I really want that.” And so yeah, I just kept telling myself, I’m like, “Ryan, this is going to be your day. Your body’s going to cooperate.” And yeah, it just cooperated the whole time. It’s very seldom do you get those days where the stomach cooperates, the legs cooperate, the head cooperates, but yeah, I just couldn’t be happier with how my body just cooperated, I guess.
iRunFar: Amazing. And then if you could share a little bit on the finish line. It was so cool seeing you cross the finish line literally and figuratively carrying the pride flag, what did that experience mean to you?
Montgomery: Obviously, a big part of who I am is my queer identity and I know we didn’t talk about this, but how I grew up and how I want to show up, it’s something that means a lot to me. And as someone who has a lot of friends in this community and they don’t feel supported or don’t feel seen or visible. And so every States I typically have worn my pride flag, but especially today or yesterday was like a moment for people to feel seen. It’s just little things. Holding a flag is not like a big thing, but it means a lot for the people that see it and are part of that community. So, yeah, I’ve received a lot of love on Instagram from the queer community. It was really nice.
iRunFar: Amazing. Okay. And are you in the mode now where you’re going to put your feet up and soak this in or do you have your eyes on something further down the road?
Montgomery: I mean, I always have a competitive spirit. I want to race a lot, but I would say I really am looking forward to like the next two weeks just like not having a training program. It’s like I really cannot wait in two weeks to be like, “Oh, I just want to run five miles today and I’m going to do whatever pace I want.” So yeah, I’m not going to rush into things, but I mean, I want to go have an epic summer in the mountains. So we need to recover and then we can go on some more adventures.
iRunFar: Very good. Keep moving. Good. Well, congratulations. We’re also happy for you and wish you nothing but the best luck the rest of the season.
Montgomery: Thank you. Appreciate it.
iRunFar: This is Ryan Montgomery after the 2026 Western States 100, your third-place finisher.
