Craig Smith’s 10-year quest to tackle the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run finally begins Saturday morning in California.
The 49-year-old Madison runner is among 369 registered in the WSER field that toes the starting line in Olympic Valley, site of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games. Runners grind along the central portion of the Western States Trail, which goes from Salt Lake City to Sacramento. The finish line at the Placer High School track in Auburn awaits about 100 miles away through east-central California’s rugged hills and valleys.
Of those 369 registered runners, some won’t start Saturday morning. Many won’t finish. The field has until 10:59:59 a.m. on Sunday to complete the race. Ultra enthusiasts will be hitting refresh on the WSER tracking site this weekend, following favorites and leaders. The final hours of the live broadcast will show the ecstasy and agony of the final minutes. Runners have wearily plunged over the line to complete the race, and others have fallen short by minutes and seconds.
Smith is a data analyst for LG Electronics. He’s been running trails since 2010 when he began training to do the McKay Hollow 25K at Monte Sano State Park. Since then he’s done more than 140 trail events including the Marathon des Sables 250K, Mountain Mist 50K, Arkansas Traveler 100, Pinhoti 100, Grand Viduta 3-day Stage Race and numerous others.
“I got interested in Western States in 2013 after reading Dean Karnazes’ book Ultramarathon Man. I was fascinated by the distance and the history of the race,” Smith told TVO before flying out to California this week.
“My training has gone pretty well. Of course, I would have liked to do higher mileage and probably a bit more elevation but I had to work training in around my sons’ soccer games, school activities and taekwondo. There are places in Huntsville to get decent elevation training and supposedly, running in high humidity is a decent substitute for running at elevation. I have also been doing a lot of running in long sleeve shirts, jackets and sweatshirts to prepare for the heat.”
Western States has qualifying races along with a lottery system for those interested in that avenue. Smith has applied to the lottery for nine years. Being on the waitlist is challenging, though. You’re doing your normal daily stuff, but also preparing to possibly fly at short notice for a rugged race. Checking the waitlist and email queue becomes routine.
Runners who finish in 24 hours or less receive a silver belt buckle. Those who finish before the Sunday morning cutoff receive a bronze buckle.
“I would like to go sub-24 but I’m not sure if I’m fit enough to do that,” Smith said. “Ultimately, the goal is to get to the finish. Time is going to depend on how well I handle the heat.”
Forecast temps for Olympic Valley, and the region, this weekend are about 80 degrees with humidity in the mid-50s. In Auburn, where the race ends, temps are in the mid-90s. That sounds somewhat nicer than the broiling swampy Southeast. But for 100 miles on wooded trails with thousands of feet of elevation? It’s quite something, to say the least. Nighttime temps will fall into the 40s. Some relief can be gotten in the late stages while crossing the cold, rushing American River.
Smith is being crewed by two friends, Rob West of Huntsville and Chris Baldridge of Tennessee. Multiple aid stations along the trail offer everything from PB&Js to blister relief and sleep zones. Smith said he has gotten some good advice from local WSER finishers.
“I have talked to a few local finishers,” he said. “Some of their best advice was to really enjoy the experience. Another key piece was to take the fiest half of the race easy to feel good for the runnable sections later.”
Smith has toiled in the Southeast heat and humidity, along with the winter cold, for 15 years on the trails. Now he’s ready to tackle his next big challenge.
