Escapades: Western States Endurance Run (WSER) (25

WSER Introduction

The WSER is the world’s oldest 100miler trail race; official first race was in 1977. It follows the classic gold and silver mining route between Olympic Village in Squaw Valley (~1830m) to Auburn (~380m), traversing 161.2km with an elevation gain of ~5,480m and loss of ~6,800m. It is an overall downhill profile and supposedly very runnable. 😉

(For comparison, TNF HK100 is D+ 5,450m and UTMB is D+ 10,000m.)

To enter the race, a typical runner has to submit qualifying races/times to obtain a ballot slot, and chances accumulate with each year of no-draw. This was my 3rd year balloting and I was #20 on waitlist. According to stats (and my coach Andy@Mile27), the chance of getting in is 100%. So training began and I got a slot exactly 1 month before the race. 🥳 My aim was only to get under that 30h cutoff time (COT).

Start – 50km

Race starts under the iconic WSER arch at 5am on the last Saturday of June each year (except 2020 cancelled). It goes on the first steepest and highest climb up to Emigrant Pass (~2,680m) before a long descent to the first aid station (AS) at 16.6km. My 29h timesheet got thrown off from the get-go and I was 30min behind. Fab… The sun was out and I was warming up too. Thankfully I had my T8 RDRC shorts on under the long pants and a spare light merino tee, and could stop by the trail to strip out of my cold gear. Whew, much cooler. But oh, pack was heavier with my clothes. 🙄

It was a series of mild rolls to the next AS at Red Star Ridge. I dropped off my extra clothes, refilled my soft flasks, grabbed some peanut butter jelly sandwich and pushed on. That would pretty much be the routine for all the 20 AS enroute, just get through them quickly.

10min more into my buffer, gosh. Getting to the next AS Duncan Canyon was a long winding down trail, pretty much runnable but I still couldn’t catch up much on the time deficit. By now, I had given up on my time sheet and was eyeing the official 30h pace chart, which I kept hovering 20-30min over. The heat would hit me hard in the next 10km stretch to a major AS Robinson Flat. Second climb: There was a 5k up to reach the AS and my pacer, Mansour, had given me a target of clearing it in 1:00-1:15h. I was finishing up my water and had to ration, and could feel my body heating up too. Sluggish and slowing down.

Got into AS Robinson Flat (~50km) and Youa spotted me. She was crewing for other runners and Mansour had roped her in to help me out too. Youa was such a pro crew! She whisked me into a chair, immediately laid out iced towels over my shoulders and thighs, and refilled my water, while I changed into my T8 shirt. That was also when I decided to take the GU electrolyte drink from the AS. I was pretty depleted and felt better. 50km at 8:30h, and still 30min over COT. Youa sent me off with a small pack of ice cubes wrapped in a beanie, and shoved it under my cap. Bless her, that was such a life-saver and I could move again! 🥰 Henceforth, I would get ice at every AS and place the pack on my head or on my neck. As another runner quipped, we have never used so much ice in a race before!

51km – 100km

The next few ASs were a blur of downhill running in exposed canyon terrain. Probably 37-38C but exposed and amplified. Dry roast. Someone described it as being in an oven. It was too much even for this heat-acclimatised Singaporean. 🔥🔥 By then, I had my AS routine quite dialled in - enter, refill 1x electrolytes + 1x water, get ice in beanie, fill silicone cup with fruits, grab a handful of cheddar goldfish snacks, and out. I don’t normally take fruits but the cantaloupe bites were especially refreshing!

Rattle snake!

Coming off AS Dusty Corner, there was a loud rattle-hiss and I turned around to see this black coiled snake on the next “lane” where I had just stepped past. Usually, you’d hear faint warnings from the weeds but it was the first time I had seen one out in the open path! 😱 I hesitated to run back for a photo, but thought to wait and warn the next runner. Alas, he thought that I was waving to him 🤦‍♀️ but thankfully missed the snake. The folks behind him heard and saw, so all good there and I continued on.

Third climb of the race; a 2.5km to AS Devil’s Thumb where Mansour was volunteering. He had set me a 40min target to clear it and I really dug in. Made it! Took some rice with chicken broth (Shiok!), picked up my headlamp, and literally got chased out of the AS 😅 as the first horn sounded a 30min prior to the AS closing. Trotted down to AS El Dorado Creek, which signalled the fourth and last big climb thereafter - a straight 4km up ~200-300m to AS Michigan Bluff. It got dark as I neared, and Steve met me to run the next 10km of rolls. We set a 2h target for ourselves but Steve was so reassuring and familiar in his pace that we took 1:45h. AS Foresthill at 100km mark; a major checkpoint. 18:15h would have been a PB for me under a different circumstance! 😅 Big climbs and tough sections over.

A 100miler race really only starts after 100km. 🤞Two numbers to crack going forth: (1) 11+h to cover the remaining 61km, and (2) not miss any AS sub-cutoffs. Mansour took over the pacing in a different style. He did the math and told me what time I needed to be where and implications. And I did my best to execute, which meant non-stop running (trotting) throughout and trying to claw back the 30min overtime. Many times, I wondered whether I could sustain the effort.

101km – Finish (161.2km)

Gentle runnable downhills, we crossed the next 3 ASs… Cal 1, Cal 2, Cal 3… just passing through for refills and not stopping. And the much anticipated river crossing at AS Rucky Chucky! We had targeted to be there by 4am and made it! Mansour urged to hurry and be first in line to cross. Our intel about ankle deep water was way off. First step in and I was knee deep. We waded into the chilly waters, “feeling” for and stepping on uneven rocks (could not see them) while holding on to the safety rope. The volunteers kindly warned me if the riverbed dropped and the water would come to my waist or more. Brrrr cold! Gingerly, we got across. It took me a while to walk off and warm up my numb toes and chilled body.

36km to the finish line. About 6.5h to the cutoff time. The math made me both nervous yet committed to fight on! Mansour and I did a quick calculation. Goal: four sections of 8-9km x ~1.5h each, with a bit of buffer. Grrrr, literally cannot stop. The next stations were hazy shuffling and counting down. Me on my metronome mode, trying to pick up pace a little wherever possible, and chewing on my caffeine sweets before zzz-lull took control. Bit by bit, I chipped at my excess 20-30min time. We got to AS Quarry Point and I was just 5min over the 30h pace-time! I powered through another 3-4km of upslope to AS Pointed Rocks; steady strong climb I told myself.

We would criss-cross familiar pairs of runners and pacers. The thing about ultra events by this point is that everyone of us is in our own battles and not competing with others. One more finisher isn’t going to deprive another. If anything, there was collective encouragement aplenty; each recognising another’s pain and effort. Pacers encouraged in different ways. One was like fresh batteries, booming-Hellos! to everyone else in the trail. One went on a monologue to runner about the colours of birds/fowl in different cities. One became a self-help talkshow host going endlessly about role-modelling for kids back home and not giving up….even verbally counting pace for runner. All good, except that Mr Motivational Speaker was right behind me and his loud counting messed up my internal metronome! 😐😵‍ Nonetheless, there was a sign that said "Pacers are people too"; indeed we were all appreciative of them.

Last 10km, just about 2h left. It was a mad rush downhill (thankful for runnable single tracks!). After ~4-5km, we got to No Hands Bridge, the historic icon which was the longest concrete-arch bridge when it was constructed. This was the lowest elevation in the race and we crossed the American River and towards Auburn. I kept asking Mansour how we were doing because there was still a short climb before exiting the trail at AS Robie Point. WSER Golden Hour had started (ie. 29h countdown). We reached the base of the climb with ~50min to spare and I really panicked. I took off, powered by fear and adrenalin, and dropped my pacer in the process (oops!). 😅

Steve was at the top of climb waiting to run the last 2km with me. He assured me that we would be in time and I could walk a bit if I wanted to. But I was too anxious to stop. A bit of steep tarmac climb and it was all the way down to Placer High School track. My small-step-high-cadence instincts took over (good training prep) and I was mindful not to overstride nor over-pound that last bit of downslope. Entering the track, the crowd and energy was just sizzling. Many of the final runners had groups of friends and families join them in that last 300m victory lap.

I sprinted as best (Strava said it was a 5min pace for the last 100m 😆) and finally crossed the line at 29:51h with 9min to spare.👏🥳 Omg, mission accomplished! Unbelievable chase, I had never run so non-stop nor got through stations so quickly before. So grateful for the race opportunity and experience, and to be the first pair of SGP female finishers at WSER (Stella came in 25min before me)! Absolutely could not have done it with the help from Mansour, Steve, and Youa. And a big thank you to everyone who was tracking the race live; not without a couple of heart-stopping moments. It was a whole community out there cheering on all the runners. 🥰💖😇

Gear: