Editor’s Note: Gaining a lottery spot for the iconic Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run is almost akin to, well, winning the lottery. This year, Flagstaff ultra runner Morgan Mahn got the nod. Over the next six months, we will periodically check in with Mahn, 30, about his training and state of mind heading into the race from Tahoe to Auburn, Calif. Read our profile of Mahn published last spring.
Today’s first installment: The Lottery
Perhaps the key to getting that rare Western States lottery nod is to not care so much about getting said nod. Kind of a Zen approach, or, at least, a realistic one, given the long odds that your name comes up.
For five years, Flagstaff ultra runner Morgan Mahn has dutifully run his qualifying races and put his name in the ever-expanding Western States lottery hat, only to have his keen expectations turn into shrugging disappointment. The previous two years, Mahn had actually been in attendance in Auburn for the annual drawing, watching others secure a coveted spot while his name went unmentioned.
So, this December, Mahn went into lottery day in early December with little expectations. In fact, he almost seemed resigned to his fate. And, interestingly, he almost had adopted an attitude of being “over” Western States. There were other races in his sights, so another States rejection wouldn’t sting as much.
Some 9,993 runners applied for this year’s lottery, all vying for one of the 260 spots. Because he went into the lottery as a four-time loser, that meant Mahn entered with 16 “tickets” – Western States’ attempt to help boost the chances of potential entrants who keep missing out on the lottery.
According to the Western States website, the odds of Mahn getting selected with 16 tickets in the hopper was 6.6%.
Still a long shot – but not quite as long as previous years.
On selection morning, he didn’t even log on to the live stream. He went for a run instead.
“I wasn’t planning on it, so I didn’t want to take the time to watch,” Mahn said. “The last two years, I think I was definitely more excited about it. I had gone to the in-person drawing the last two years in Auburn.
“Last year, I ran the California International Marathon, and the lottery was the day before, and Auburn is pretty close to Sacramento, so I figured I’d go. Two years ago, I was helping a friend run CIM and I also attended. That was kind of cool, to attend the actual lottery.”
Just as Mahn was about to hit the trails with a friend that Saturday morning, something weird started happening.
“My phone started buzzing,” he said. “I got a bunch of text messages from friends from all over, people who were obviously watching and excited for me.”
He was in the race!
His reaction? Giddy excitement?
Not quite.
“Maybe, initially, I was a little bit unhappy, as crazy as that sounds,” he said. “There were some other races and things I wanted to do next year.”
One big race was the Cocodona 250, which Mahn had entered in 2024 but had to defer a year because of “life issues.” Running Cocodona, from Black Canyon to Flagstaff in early May would not jibe with competing well at Western States in June, so did Mahn face something of a dilemma?
“I never thought of turning it down,” he said. “Western is always something I’ve wanted to do. I quickly pivoted and tried to figure out what my year was going to look like. So, I thought it over the weekend. The Monday or Tuesday after the drawing, I started looking at Air BnBs, and I booked the pre-race and post-race in Lake Tahoe and then near Auburn. Once I actually booked the BnBs and paid for that, and once I talked to some friends who were pretty committed already, once I did that, I was starting to feel more ready to train.
“I talked with my coach, Matt Daniels, and I’m starting to flesh out a training plan for what next year is going to look like. We’re going to hop on a call and talk things through in the next few weeks. It feels good to do some scheming and initial planning, get those pieces in place.”
If Mahn sounds a tad underwhelmed, not really fired up, it’s because he said he felt a little burnt out after a hard year of running in 2024.
“The last few months have been a down period for me,” he said. “I was just trying to have fun, like, get the fire back from running two hard 100-mile races (Mogollon Monster and Angeles Crest) four weeks apart over the summer. They were both really hard ones, and they deeply fatigued me. It took me a while to really enjoy running again.”
Another reason for his less-than-stoked response to getting selected: “I’d been at Western States the last two years, which sort of added to my Western fatigue. Two years ago, a friend of mine from Kansas City got in, and I ended up pacing him all of the paceable sections, from Robinson Flat, maybe 39-ish miles. That was a long weekend. And (last year), crewing for Chris (Myers, who finished 10th) was great but tiring.”
Mahn has decreased his volume in recent months, seeking to rekindle inspiration. Two weeks ago, for fun, he led a pace group at the Tucson Marathon, which helped buoy his spirits.
“Western is definitely a good source of motivation right now,” he said. “Honestly, during the Tucson Marathon, that kind of brought back some of that fire.”
Next month’s installment: Formulating logistics, assembling a crew, figuring out the best training strategy and lead-in races.
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