The 2026 Western States Endurance Run, scheduled for 27 June, has received the entry that the ultrarunning community has spent years hoping for. Kilian Jornet, widely regarded as the greatest trail and mountain runner of all time, will return to the 100-mile race from Squaw Valley to Auburn, California, for the first time since he won it in 2011. He was 23 years old then, a prodigiously talented Catalan athlete making his debut at the distance. He is 38 now, the founder of his own running brand NNormal, a father, and a figure whose influence on the sport extends far beyond race results. His return to the race that launched his ultrarunning career adds a narrative dimension to an already formidable 2026 field.
The men's start list reads like a who's who of contemporary ultrarunning. Rod Farvard, who finished second in 2025 with the third-fastest time in race history (14 hours 24 minutes), is the most obvious contender on recent form. Daniel Jones (14:32, seventh-fastest ever) and Caleb Olsen (14:40, eighth-fastest) both return from strong 2025 performances, while 2023 champion Adam Peterman brings proven championship pedigree. Hans Troyer, whose winter campaign included a course record at Black Canyon and a convincing win at the JFK 50-miler, adds further depth. Notably absent, however, is Jim Walmsley — the four-time winner and course record holder who mysteriously disappeared from the entry list in late May. No official explanation has been given for his withdrawal.
Jornet's presence transforms the race from an elite competition into an event with genuine crossover appeal. His 2011 victory was one of the performances that introduced trail ultrarunning to a wider sporting audience, and his subsequent career — which has included records on Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and Mount Everest, as well as victories at UTMB, Hardrock, and virtually every major mountain race in existence — has made him the sport's most recognisable figure globally. Whether he can compete for the win at Western States at the age of 38, against a field that is significantly faster and deeper than the one he faced 15 years ago, is an open question. But Jornet has always been motivated by the experience of racing rather than the result, and his very participation will elevate the event's profile.
The women's race promises to be equally compelling. All ten of the top finishers from the 2025 edition have accepted their invitations to return, setting the stage for what could be the most competitive women's field in the race's 52-year history. The 100-mile distance has seen a remarkable surge in depth among elite women runners over the past three years, driven in part by the growth of the UTMB World Series and the increasing professionalisation of the sport. Western States, with its iconic point-to-point course through the Sierra Nevada and the Sacramento Valley, remains the race that every American ultrarunner wants to win, and the prospect of a full-strength women's field adds considerably to the anticipation.
For the 369 runners on the start list — updated as of 19 March — the countdown to late June will be marked by the usual anxieties of final long runs, taper protocols, and heat acclimatisation strategies. The course, which drops from 2,550 metres at Emigrant Pass to 390 metres at the Placer High School track in Auburn, demands a combination of mountain fitness, flat-ground speed, and the mental resilience to push through the notoriously hot canyons in the race's middle miles. It is a test unlike any other in ultrarunning, and with Jornet, Farvard, Peterman, and a full-strength women's field all converging on the same start line, the 2026 edition has the ingredients to be remembered as one of the great Western States races.