Western States 100 Mile Race Report (2016)

Well, I finally completed the 100-mile distance! It was rough, it was raw, and it stripped me to my core…but I gutted out the full distance in a 17 hours, 16-minutes at the 2016 Western States 100 Endurance Run.

In short, the race was my worst ultra race performance in my career. I laid down on the trail in a dead stop half a dozen times, puked just as many times, and dry heaved about 100 times.  At the mile 78 aid station I sat down in a chair for about 25-minutes. My stomach really got the best of me in the second half of the race and unfortunately it lead to a rather disastrous positive split.

My VLOG report (just below) covers all the details, but in case you don’t want to listen to 20-min of rambling this is what happened:

I went to compete for the win. Jim Walmsely also went for the win (and a very fast time).  I tired to follow him and worked really hard but was all alone in 2nd place from miles 30-75. At mile 55 I started to get very nauseous. By mile 70 I was walking and massively dehydrated (barfing did not help) but still faster than course record pace. In the end I finished in 11th place as guys kept flying by me in the final 15-miles.

Ultimately I’m going to treasure this whole experience because it was a rewarding time with loved ones in a beautiful area:

Paddle board with Sandi on Lake Tahoe!.

Flora Health Snacks on the (Lake Tahoe) Beach!

The Finish Line
Photo credit:
Vince Alcouloumre (@Vince_Vmar)

Big thanks to Sandi and my parents for crewing for me, my buddy Joel Frost-Tift for pacing me, my sponsors (see “gear list” below), and everyone who’s made this journey all possible (people such as yourself!).

The trail-ultra community was super supportive at Western States and there were tons of inspiring stories that whole weekend. In fact, as part of Sandi’s “Western Stories” film project, we are still hoping to get some more footage of runners in the race. If you were filming at a crew station or pacing this would be really awesome to have. Please visit our page and fill out the form HERE

Also, The Ginger Runner was out there filming (he also came to Boulder to film some of my training and story). Stay tuned for a film project coming out from him on my whole Western States 100 experience (Thanks Ethan!).

Finally, thank you for all your tremendous support! The comments on social media and in person have meant the world to me and it really goes to show how awesome and generous the running community really is.

Thank you and I hope your running is going well!

-Sage

Shameless Sponsor Plugs:

Kicks: Hoka One One Speedgoats and Claytons

General Nutrition (Tea, Fruit snacks, vitamins/minerals): Flora Health

Recovery Bars: Ugo Bars

Gels: Vfuel

More Recovery and snacks/spreads: Trail Butter

Anti-Chafe and Skin Protection: Squirrel’s Nut Butter

Shades: Julbo Stony

Compression: Compressport R2 Calf Sleeves

Socks: Drymax SAGE RUNNER

Training Data/log: Strava.com

Running Form Data/Sensor: LumoRun

Post-Run Beverage: Avery Brewing Beer

Hydration Packs/Handhelds/Vests: NATHAN

Tags: flora health, HOKA ONE ONE, Sage Canaday, Sage Canady, Sage running, trail running, ultra marathon, ultra running, ultra trail, western states 100, western states 2016, western states blog

Category: blog