The world's oldest 100-mile trail race gets under way on Saturday morning, with roughly 370 runners due to leave Olympic Valley at 5am Pacific time for the long point-to-point journey across California's Sierra Nevada. The 2026 Western States Endurance Run climbs immediately to the Escarpment above Palisades Tahoe before unspooling some 100.2 miles of high country, river crossing and baking canyon to the finish on the Placer High School track in Auburn. By common consent the men's and women's elite fields assembled this year are the strongest in the event's history, and the cast list alone has turned the build-up into one of the most anticipated trail weekends in recent memory.
Jim Walmsley is the headline name in the men's race. The four-time champion, who won in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2024 and still holds the course record of 14:09:28, missed last year's edition through injury and has raced sparingly in 2026, leaving genuine questions about his sharpness against a deeper field than he has ever faced here. Chief among the challengers is Kilian Jornet, the 2011 winner who returns to the Sierra for the first time in years; the Catalan has been characteristically candid about the risk involved, describing his decision to toe the line as something of a gamble given his recent training. Behind the two headliners sits a long list of contenders capable of the podium should either of the favourites falter over the closing canyons.
The women's race may be even harder to call. Abby Hall returns to defend the title she won in 2025 in 16:37, the fourth-fastest women's time in race history, and arrives as a worthy favourite on a course that rewards her blend of climbing strength and downhill speed. She is pushed by Fuzhao Xiang, runner-up in both 2024 and 2025 and the owner of one of the quickest women's times ever recorded at Western States, as well as by a clutch of established names including Jennifer Lichter and Marianne Hogan. Adding intrigue is the debut of Molly Seidel, the Olympic marathon bronze medallist stepping up to the 100-mile distance for the first time, an experiment that will fascinate road and trail audiences alike.
Conditions look favourable for fast running. The forecast for race weekend is sunny and dry with relatively cool temperatures of around 13C, a long way from the brutal heat that has decided so many editions in the high canyons between Robinson Flat and the Rucky Chucky river crossing. Cooler air typically lifts finishing rates and lowers times, and it raises the prospect of a serious assault on the course records should the leaders stay healthy through the heat of the afternoon. Runners still face the familiar arithmetic of the race: a 30-hour overall cut-off to earn a finisher's buckle, and the coveted sub-24-hour silver buckle for those who reach Auburn before the following morning.
For those following from afar, the race will be streamed live and free on YouTube via the WSER100 channel, with coverage beginning at 4:15am Pacific time before the gun and running continuously through the day and night. Commentary and on-course reporting will track the leaders across the iconic checkpoints, from the early climb to the river crossing and the final miles into Auburn. With the deepest fields the run has ever drawn, a cool forecast and two of the sport's biggest names returning from absence, the 2026 Western States 100 has the makings of a classic from the moment the runners disappear up the Escarpment.