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The 52nd Western States Endurance Run is in the books, and what a race it was. In this week’s Ultra Weekend Recap, we feature results from an epic Western States 100, as well as ultramarathon races in Oregon, British Columbia and South Dakota.
Western States 100 (Auburn, CA)
The 2025 Western States Endurance Run saw two first-time winners, with Caleb Olson winning the men’s contest and Abby Hall racing to victory in the women’s race. Here’s how things unfolded throughout the day.
The men’s event was a battle of 29-year-olds, with Caleb Olson overtaking Chris Myers on the climb to Devil’s Thumb aid station (mile 48) and never looking back. Olson crossed the line in 14:11:25, earning him the men’s title with the second-fastest time ever run on the Western States course. Myers was in hot pursuit of Olson all the way to Auburn but was never able to close the gap. Myers ultimately finished in second, running the fourth-fastest time in WSER history (14:17:39). The “GOAT,” Kilian Jornet, finished less than 2 minutes behind Myers to claim the final podium spot in third. Jornet surged over the closing miles and sprinted around the track to run 14:19:22 (over 85 minutes faster than his 2011 winning time).
In the women’s race, Abby Hall raced to the front early, dropped into third at Last Chance (mile 43), then rallied to reclaim the lead before coming into Michigan Bluff (mile 55.7). From there, Hall never looked back, essentially putting the race away with a strong climb up to Green Gate (mile 80) after crossing the American River. Hall raced around the Placer High oval to take the win in 16:37:16, the fourth-fastest women’s time ever at Western States. Fuzhao Xiang (16:47:09) made a late charge to earn second place and match her 2024 runner-up finish. Marianne Hogan moved into third place over the final 10 miles and secured her podium finish in 16:50:58. The top three women finished 11th through 13th, respectively. Full results here.
Wy’East Wonder (Parkdale, OR)
Our second stop takes us to the Pacific Northwest where Sarah Allaben shattered the women’s course record on her way to taking the overall win at the Wy’East Wonder 50-mile. Allaben’s time of 7:36:19 bested the previous course record set in 2019 by over 16 minutes. Shelaine Dolce (9:43:40) finished second female and ninth overall. Jordan McPhee took third (10:00:05). Stephen Snazuk won the men’s race in 7:56:26. Jason Schroeder came in second (8:20:38), and Brian Kelly (9:07:35) rounded out the podium in third.
Nick Hirdt (3:55:05) ran to victory in the Wy’East Wonder 50k men’s contest. Jonathan Gendron crossed the line in second (4:17:03), and Joseph Sortor (4:27:08) finished third. Sarah Reiter won the women’s race (third overall) and set a new female 50k course record in 4:20:55. Rachael Lenz was second and seventh overall (4:53:41), and Madison Berumen (5:24:04) claimed third. Full results here.
Tackle the Toad (Nelson, BC)
Next up, we travel north of the border for the second running of the Tackle the Toad Trail Race 50k. This year’s race saw 79 finishers, paced by Craig Fowler, who won in 4:47:28. Jonatan Billiau was the second male finisher in 5:17:46. James Miles (5:33:05) was third. Kiah Wheeler won the women’s race and placed third overall in 5:22:53. Jasmine Allchurch snagged second and ninth overall (6:11:42), and Jennifer Schaub (6:12:47) finished in third. Full results here.
Black Hills 100
Our final stop takes us to Sturgis, South Dakota, for the Black Hills 100. There were 38 runners who completed the 108-mile course, with top female honors going to Mia Rucoba in 30:23:24. Kelsie Sibbald was the second woman finisher in 33:10:43. Katie Kavanaugh came in third (33:33:48). Walker Yane ran to victory in the men’s race in 22:01:47. Caleb Yokom placed second (22:29:06), and Thomas Kjerengtroen (25:23:31) was third. Full results of the 100-miler, as well as the Black Hills 50-mile and 50k races, can be found here.
Other results from this weekend include: Many on the Genny (Castile, NY), Buckeye Trail (Brecksville, OH), The Yeti 100 Mile Endurance Run-Washington (North Bend, WA), Vulture Vista Ultra (Greencastle, IN), Etown Trail Classic (Glendale, KY), Tiger Peak Challenge (Issaquah, WA), and Hell Hath no Hurry (Pittsburgh, PA).