Flagstaff’s (and France’s) Jim Walmsley on Saturday goes for his fourth victory at the U.S.’s most prestigious ultramarathon, the Western States 100 Endurance Run in Auburn, Calif.
This will be the first of a two-part ambitious summer project for Walmsley. Should he win Western States this weekend — and he’s the clear favorite — he will try to become the first runner to do the double, winning Western States and Europe’s pinnacle, UTMB, in the same year.
Walmsley famously moved to France two years ago to better prepare for UTMB, which he won in 2023 — the first American male to do so. He returned to Flagstaff for this training block to prep for Western States, and despite reports of an ankle injury, he appears fit and ready to go. Last week, in a little tune-up, he finished second in the Broken Arrow Sky Race Vertical Kilometer, showing impressive climbing skills and speed coming in behind perhaps the world’s best uphill runner, Kenya’s Patrick Kipnego.
Who are Walmsley’s challengers?
Tyler Green, who twice has been a Western States runner-up. There’s Jonathan Albon, a popular British Sky runner and obstacle course participant who now trains out of Norway, who has won many ultras, including Les Templiers and Transvulcania. And then there’s Walmsley’s Hoka teammate Hayden Hawks, the former Southern Utah University cross country star who has transitioned into the ultra scene. Hawks finished second at Western States in 2022 but DNF’d last year and underwent knee surgery. But he showed strength in his return to racing this spring, winning the Black Canyon 100K to earn the “Golden Ticket” to States.
Besides, Albon, there are a host of foreign runners who could contend: China’s Jia Sheng-Chen; Sweden’s Petter Engdahl; China’s Ji Duo; Mexico’s Jupiter Carera; Romania’s Robert Hajnal; France’s Simon Gosselin, who has been t raining in Flagstaff.
In an extensive pre-race interview with the website irunfar.com, Walmsley sounded confident going into the race.
“Shifting back to Western States feels more natural and more what I’m used to,” he told interviewer Meghan Hicks. “Running and less gear, less pack, but warmer weather, up-tempo and it’s kind of where things began, is what it feels like.”
You can watch to the full irunfar video here.
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