Foresthill cleared its Memorial Day weekend on Monday as the Western States Training Camp closed three sold-out days of point-to-point running on the final 70 miles of the 100-mile course. The weekend has become the unofficial dress rehearsal for the front of the Western States field, and this year's edition put a deeper-than-usual cluster of golden-ticket holders on the canyons exactly four weeks out from race day.
Saturday's 32-mile run from Robinson Flat through the high country to Foresthill Elementary School set the tone, with snow patches still visible above 7,000 feet at the start and temperatures climbing into the high 70s by the Devil's Thumb climb at mile 47. Sunday's 19-mile leg through the Rucky Chucky river crossing zone to Driver's Flat dropped runners straight into the canyons section that has historically separated the leading group, and Monday's 20-mile finish from Green Gate to Placer High School in Auburn closed out the standard course preview.
The Western States Endurance Run Foundation reported well-stocked aid stations across all three days and a community-style post-run programme each afternoon at Foresthill Elementary, with sports massage, food and Foundation-led talks from race director Craig Thornley and trail crew leads. Graduation from any single day is not a requirement to participate in the others, but the unofficial bar among the 2026 ticket holders this year was to run all three — a tally the camp registration noted was the largest in recent memory.
For the leading group, the training camp doubles as a public-facing rehearsal. Kilian Jornet, returning to Western States for the first time in his second go at the race, ran all three days inside his expected race pacing windows according to social-media posts from his crew. Jim Walmsley used the weekend as a longer, lower-intensity block after his Zegama set-up at altitude, and Courtney Dauwalter took the camp at a controlled clip after spring trail mileage at Chianti. Coaches working with first-time entrants pointed to the camp as the moment to recalibrate the canyons heat plan in a year when the Foundation has already flagged that the long-range forecast for race day looks closer to historical hot.
The Foundation's heat protocol is one of the variables in play for race day on June 28. Camp temperatures this weekend tracked five to seven degrees above the ten-year average for late May, and the Foresthill regional weather service models are tracking a building ridge into the front weekend of June. With four weeks of taper, heat acclimation work and final logistics now ahead of the field, the next major checkpoint on the Western States calendar is the Foundation's pre-race medical and crew briefing in Auburn on June 27, the day before the 5:00 AM start at Olympic Valley.