On a hot-weather day on the Western States 100 course—where the midday heat registered 97 degrees Fahrenheit at the race’s 62-mile point and then 106 degrees at the mile-78 river crossing—winners Jim Walmsley (pre-race and post-race interviews) and Courtney Dauwalter (pre-race and post-race interviews) alighted fires of their own.
Jim set a new men’s course record and Courtney finished in the second-fastest time ever by a woman. In the balance of this article, we’ll break down Jim’s and Courtney’s outstanding performances as well as what else happened at the front of the men’s and women’s fields.
2018 Western States 100 Women’s Race
Australia’s Lucy Bartholomew (pre-race and post-race interviews) took the women’s race out hot! At the Escarpment (mile 3.5), the race’s high point, Lucy went over the top basically in the company of the top men. And at Duncan Canyon aid station (mile 24), she’d built an eight-minute lead over the other women. Over the course of the race’s first half, she established, held, and, then, lapsed a lead over the rest of the women’s field. She also hovered not so far from course-record pace before dropping below it and, then, finally slowing down compared to it.
As Lucy was easing off the gas, its seems that Courtney Dauwalter (pre-race and post-race interviews) was only getting warmed up. For fascinating comparison, as early as Duncan Canyon, Courtney was almost 18 minutes behind Lucy and not even in second place yet. The pass between this pair happened somewhere between the Devil’s Thumb and Michigan Bluff aid stations (miles 48 and 56). When our team saw Courtney at Foresthill (mile 62), it was clear that this race was now hers to lose.
More fun facts, at Foresthill, Courtney was 34 minutes off record pace. At the finish, she was about 40 minutes off record pace. Second-half closer anyone? When Courtney crossed the Auburn, California finish line in 17:27:00, hers became the second-fastest finish in race history, only bested by Ellie Greenwood’s 16:47:19 course record. The moniker ‘any distance, any surface’ fits Courtney perfectly, and she proved she can motor hard on the hot, dusty, flatter Western States Trail with not a trouble in the world.
Read more about this years Western States 100 at iRunFar.com | Hot Weather, Fast Times!: 2018 Western States 100 Results