For the most part, the story went to script. And, up until around mile 60 in the women’s race that looked to be the case. But then Courtney Dauwalter dropped. A hip injury put pay to her race, just when everyone was getting excited at the prospect of a possible course record. Instead, a stellar run from Clare Gallagher saw her move ahead of Brittany Peterson late in the race to claim the win. And, with it, the second fastest women’s time in the race’s history.

In the men’s race, the script certainly went to plan. And, possibly better. Jim Walmsley, he of fast running clan sent a smoke trail down the valley to Auburn. He bested his own course record by a staggering 20 minutes and some change to set an incredible time of 14 hours and 9 minutes.

Certainly, the race was helped with the far cooler than normal temperatures, allowing runners to let it rip far earlier on than normal. Oh what a joy it would have been to run through the Canyons this year and not come out the other side like a burnt piece of pizza.

Finalising the women’s podium, it was a hugely welcome return for Kaci Lickteig, who are a few years of stop / start since her win in 2015, recorded a personal best time of 17 hours 55 minutes. The UK’s Beth Pascall also put in a fine performance on debut to finish in fourth. It was a tough day out for Lucy Bartholomew (15th) and Cecilia Flori (12th), the latter going into this with an injury that plagued her for much of the race. Lucy I’m sure, ever the professional will be right back into it again at some stage.

The women’s top ten was as follows:

1. Clare Gallagher  – 17:23
2. Brittany Peterson – 17:34
3. Kaci Lickteig – 17:55
4. Beth Pascall – 18:06
5. Camelia Mayfield – 18:13
6. Kaytlyn Gerbin – 18:13
7. Nicole Bitter – 18:55
8. Kathryn Drew – 18:59
9. Addie Bracy – 19:53
10. Corrine Malcolm – 20:02

For the men, while Jim was the run away winner, a big mention to Jared Hazen in second place, coming in under the old course record time too. He finished in 14hrs 26 mins. Meanwhile, another UK runner on debut, Tom Evans lived up to the pre-race hype to bag the final podium spot, also finishing under the 15 hour mark. A cracker of a debut run.

Special mention goes to Ian Sharman for his tenth WSER100 finish. While Ian didn’t quite manage to get another finish in the top ten, his performance over those ten years is outstanding. I think I read somewhere that he took over 20 hours off the combined record for 10 finishes. Now that’s consistency for you.

Another notable feat to mention was the obliteration of the M50 course record. Steven Moore ran a time of 18:14 to beat the men’s 50-to-59 age-group record of 18:43. This was set way back in 1988 by Doug Latimer.

The men’s top ten was as follows:

1. Jim Walmsley – 14:09
2. Jared Hazen – 14:26
3. Tom Evans – 14:59
4. Matt Daniels – 15:21
5. Mark Hammond – 15:36
6. Gediminas Grinius – 15:43
7. Stephen Kersh – 15:54
8. Patrick Reagan – 15:54
9. Jeff Browning – 15:55
10. Kyle Pietari – 15:56

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Dan

I'm a mediocre runner who can bat above his average when I train hard. A man of extremes, I do enjoy everything life offers and consider it an absolute pleasure just to be able to put one foot in front of the other and let my mind wander somewhere different.