Just one week out from Western States. What kind of trail forum would we be if we didn't talk about it?

IrunFar Men's Preview: http://www.irunfar.com/2013/06/2013-western-states-100-mens-preview.html

IrunFar Women's Preview: http://www.irunfar.com/2013/06/2013-western-states-100-womens-preview.html

You can follow it on IrunFar.com

I love the Western States story, and since we have folks who trail ride and I share trails with horses almost every run, the Tevis/WS100 really speaks to me.

That being said, I would like IrunFar.com to focus not only on the top runners. There are 400 folks running, after all.

Now to turn around and speculate on the elite field:

Men:

Tim Olson or Cameron Clayton

Women:

Rory Bosio or Cassie Scallon (if her hamstring heals)

I was interested to see Kerrie Bruxvoort mentioned as potential top five. She seems to me to be a very tough runner with tons of endurance. I remember running with her on and off during the North Face 50k in Marin in December. She won the women's race in just under 4:30, a good five minutes ahead of me. On the last big climb, she was impressive and just crushed it. I do wonder whether she has the speed to run with someone like Cassie or Rory when they get going, though.

Jen Benna in the women's,  she's one of our local stars and I think a real contender.

I love the Western States story, and since we have folks who trail ride and I share trails with horses almost every run, the Tevis/WS100 really speaks to me.

+ 1 (at least as far as the run/ride thing with my DD.)

Mike Morton... 16 year hiatus from WS but won Badwater last year.  Interesting.

For the women, I say Rory Bosio.

Would be surprised to see any records set this year given the forecasted high temps but who knows.

I am pulling for Mike Morton. Nevertheless, I have barely heard Karl Meltzer mentioned in the conversations. I do have a top 5 list, which may have changed since I posted it on fb the other day. But here is what I had jotted down on a notepad:

Morton

Meltzer

Olson

Koerner

Clark

I actually think that Olson could win it again, but I am putting the older guys up there because I am 44. So, you can take my order with a grain of salt. Obviously, Morton knows the course; he has won the race in the past. He is much older now, but not so much older that he isn't fast. He is still churning out some fast 100 mile finishes. He is accustomed to running in the heat. Of course, the real concern for Morton is can he make it without Sandy and me at aid stations helping him like we did at Rocky Raccoon this year? But seriously, I am hoping he does well here again. The guy is a great runner, and I was able to get a different perspective of the front runners at a 100 mile race by working the start/finish at Rocky Raccoon this year. It was just a really rewarding experience to be able to do that. I will probably be back there next year working, too.

 

That would be awesome! Isn't Rory a local as well

She is but she's a favorite and I like the longer shots , although I think she'll be in the top 3 . Another local ( Truckee ) is Peter Fain he's new to the 100 but has won everything around here at the 50k & 50 mile distance , I think he might be in the Top 10.

A friend who was a volunteer at Foresthill had his schedule change and I stepped in to fill his space . I think I'll be there too late to see the front runners though , I'm working the late afternoon to close .

Would love to see Hal win ...

I think it is very possible that any of those five I listed could win it. Even though I am pulling for Morton, it would be nice to see Nick Clark do it this year, too. The field has quite a few contenders.