The stakes were high this weekend at the Canyons by UTMB 100k race as the last of the golden tickets to Western States were dished out. In the end, the unusually cold and rainy weather didn't seem to dampen the runners' efforts, as Emily Hawgood set a new course record in the women's race, while Francesco Puppi took did the same in his first 100k attempt.
The race started in the historic gold rush town of Auburn, which calls itself the “Endurance Capital of the World," and took runners over 12,300ft (3,750m) of elevation gain in the northern California foothills of the Sierra Nevada range. This year, the 100k race was a Western States Golden Ticket race, with the final six tickets to be shared between the top three male and female winners.
Hawgood took gold in the women's race with a new record of 9:46:44, but the win was hard-fought as the Zimbabwe runner struggled to shake a persistent Marianne Hogan from start to finish. In the end, a last-minute surge from Hawgood proved just enough to get her over the line in her Agravic Speed Ultras exactly four minutes ahead of the Canadian, calling it the "biggest trail fight of my life".
Keely Henninger took third place, but since Hawgood already has her ticket to the June race, Hogan, Henninger, and fourth-placed Erin Clark secured their spots for June's Western States.
Meanwhile, in the men's race, Italian Francesco Puppi took his first stab at the 100k distance and grabbed an early lead in the first half of the race. He held it till the end, coming in at 8:04:36, more than 20 minutes ahead of Hans Troyer and breaking the previous course record by 40 minutes.
"Having no experience with the 100k distance was both an advantage and a disadvantage. The first because I had no idea how hard it would get (mentally, that’s a huge advantage, because the fear of pain prevents you from digging extremely deep), the second because obviously it would have allowed to play my cards a little bit better," says Puppi.
The runner, who signed with Hoka earlier this year, turned down his golden ticket to focus on other projects, while fourth-placed Jeff Mogavero already has one, so the remaining three tickets went to Troyer, Hannes Namberger (third place) and Ryan Montgomery (fifth).
With all Golden Tickets now awarded, all that's left to do is wait for the Western States itself to roll around. The race kicks off on June 28 in Olympic Valley and ends in Auburn, and we'll see some of the most exciting endurance runners today battling it out, including Jim Walmsley, Vincent Bouillard, Kilian Jornet, David Roche, Tara Dower, Toni McCann and Hayden Hawks. You'll be able to live stream the entire race at the WSER Youtube channel.
