They Shouldn't have 100 KM Qualifiers for Western States 100 Miler

Demand for the Western States Endurance Race continues to grow. They had a record 6666 applicants entered in the 2020 race lottery — an increase of nearly 14% over the 5862 applicants for the 2019 race. Now with the cancellation of the 2020 race, the odds of getting to the starting line be even more daunting.

Legally only 369 are allowed to start this legendary race that Gordy Ainsleigh joined in 1974 with the horses of the Western States Trail Ride to see if he could complete the course on foot. Twenty-three hours and forty-two minutes later Gordy arrived in Auburn, proving that a runner could indeed run the entire trail within the 24-hour time limit of the Tevis Cup – 100 miles in one day.

Why 369? Their permit with the U.S. Forest Service limits them to 369 runners. Why this odd number? In 1984, Congress enacted the California Wilderness Act, which created the Granite Chief Wilderness. The Western States Trail crosses the Granite Chief Wilderness, at about miles 6-10. Normally, organized events are not permitted in wilderness areas but, as Western States pre-existed the wilderness designation, they were able to get the race “grandfathered” into the legislation, with the proviso that they have no more runners than we had prior to the passage of the act. In 1984, it happened that there were 369 starters and that has been the magic number ever since.

But the real number is 264! Because of the Automatics:

The Western States Board of Trustees has instituted a set of rules around the overall selection process. There are several ways in which a runner may be automatically selected, and not be subject to the lottery. Here is a complete list of ways in which a runner may be automatically selected:

Top 10 male finishers from the previous year’ race.
Top 10 female finishers from the previous year’s race.
Up to 24 slots are reserved for winners of the Golden Ticket Races.
Six slots are reserved for elite athletes through the Ultra-Trail World Tour.
Each running club that sponsors and staffs an aid station at Western States is allowed to designate one runner. Generally speaking, each is a volunteer who has worked that particular aid station for at least three prior years.
Certain sponsor agreements specify a designated runner for the sponsor.
Members of the Board of Directors.
Pioneers: Gordy Ainsleigh, who ran solo in 1974 and Cowman A-Moo-Ha, who duplicated the feat in 1976.
Nine-time finishers going for their first attempt at a tenth finish, and 18-time and 19-time finishers going for their first attempts at 19th and 20th finishes.
Winners of the twice-annual Raffle Drawing. The drawings are held 18 and 12 months prior to the Run for which the winning entries apply.
The Greg Soderlund Silver Legend Entrant.

So 264 will be drawn in the lottery that was started in 2017. The final three entrants to get to 369 will be drawn from those in the audience. We will also draw an additional 50 names for the ordered wait list. The probabilities of being selected as one of the 264 in the lottery or 50 on the wait list (314) are as follows:

9 runners with 128 tickets, each has a 80.4% chance of getting drawn / Year 8
54 runners with 64 tickets, each has a 55.8% chance of getting drawn / Year 7
126 runners with 32 tickets, each has a 33.5% chance of getting drawn / Year 6
315 runners with 16 tickets, each has a 18.5% chance of getting drawn / Year 5
549 runners with 8 tickets, each has a 9.7% chance of getting drawn / Year 4
914 runners with 4 tickets, each has a 5.0% chance of getting drawn / Year 3
1447 runners with 2 tickets, each has a 2.5% chance of getting drawn / Year 2
3250 runners with 1 ticket, each has a 1.3% chance of getting drawn / Year 1

https://linktr.ee/AND3RSON

---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/andy-noise/message
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/andy-noise/support