The 53rd running of the Western States 100, the oldest 100-mile trail race in the world, lived up to its billing as one of the most dramatic editions in the event’s history. Run on June 27 across the Sierra Nevada from Olympic Valley to Auburn, California, this year’s race produced course records in both the men’s and women’s fields, a wave of surprise DNFs from some of the sport’s biggest names, and a finish rate the race hasn’t seen in years.
The Conditions Set the Stage
Western States is as famous for its brutal heat as it is for its terrain, but 2026 broke from tradition. Runners lined up at 5 a.m. in temperatures near 51°F, and the day’s high only reached 74°F, the third-coolest race day in the event’s 53-year history. Cooler years have historically produced faster times, since heat management usually caps how aggressively elites can pace themselves over the course’s 100.2 miles, 18,000 feet of climbing, and 22,000 feet of descent. With that governor removed, fast times were expected, and they arrived in force. The mild conditions also helped drive the highest overall finish rate in recent memory, at 87.5%, compared to roughly 77% during the hotter 2025 edition.
Bouillard Breaks Away Late to Smash the Men’s Record
The men’s race was fast and unpredictable from the gun. Twenty-six-year-old American Hans Troyer set an early course-record pace over the first major climb to Emigrant Pass, building leads of several minutes over a stacked field that included four-time champion Jim Walmsley and 2024 UTMB winner Vincent Bouillard. Troyer’s charge eventually unraveled due to stomach issues, and he wouldn’t finish. Walmsley, too, dropped out before Foresthill, as did pre-race favourite Kilian Jornet, who withdrew around the 38-mile mark at Dusty Corners.
That left the race open, and it was Bouillard, a Frenchman who works part-time as a shoe engineer at Hoka, who made his move in the final 15 miles, pulling away from Italy’s Francesco Puppi and eventually running away with the win. Bouillard crossed the line in 13:46:15, obliterating Walmsley’s 2019 course record by 23 minutes and 12 seconds and becoming the first sub-14-hour finisher in race history. It’s a redemption story of sorts: Bouillard had dropped out of last year’s race at the 80-mile mark. The win also makes him just the seventh runner ever to claim both a Western States and a UTMB title.
Puppi capped an extraordinary 100-mile debut with a runner-up finish in 13:51:08, also under the old course record, while American Ryan Montgomery rounded out the podium in 13:53:55, a time that would have won every previous edition of the race by a wide margin. Thomas Cardin finished fourth in 14:07:58, meaning the top four men all broke 14 hours.
Lichter Announces Herself With a Course Record in Her 100-Mile Debut
If the men’s race was defined by attrition at the front, the women’s race was defined by a tightly bunched chase pack that stayed together deep into the day. Marianne Hogan and defending champion Abby Hall set the pace early, with less than 30 seconds separating the top seven runners at Red Star Ridge. By Robinson Flat at mile 30, though, Jenn Lichter had built a lead of over a minute.
The Takeaway
The 2026 Western States 100 will be remembered as a changing-of-the-guard moment as much as a fast one. Bouillard’s and Lichter’s records confirm that the sport’s ceiling keeps rising, while the struggles of Walmsley, Jornet, and Hall, some of the biggest names of the past decade, suggest the depth chasing them has never been stronger. With ultrarunning’s professionalisation accelerating and course records falling across multiple recent editions, it’s hard not to wonder what next year’s race, run in typical Western States heat, might look like by comparison.
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