Tom Evans on top of the world after Western States win
Tom Evans has become the first British man to win the Western States 100-mile endurance run in California, Adrian Stott reports.
He covered the 100-mile course from Olympic Valley near Lake Tahoe to Auburn in California in 14hr 40min 22sec. It is the fourth fastest time ever in the Western States, bettered only by Jim Walmsley in two of his victories in 2019 (14:09:28) and 2018 (14:30:04) and Jared Hazen (14:26:46) when finishing runner-up in 2019.
"It was an incredibly special day with lots of memories made on the trails," he said, "and I'm still grateful to still be standing!"
After a training build-up that included heat acclimatisation at home in Loughborough and two months at altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona, conditions for Evans turned out to be cooler than predicted this year, but the runners did have the challenge of crossing lingering snowfields in the first 15 miles of the race, which is something not usually encountered in late June.
Jia-Ju Zhao from China had been the early leader but got caught by a trio of Evans, American Dakota Jones and another Chinese runner, Jia-Sheng Shen. Evans and Jones then moved ahead and were together at the halfway checkpoint at Devil's Thumb (48 miles). They ran almost together the next miles to Foresthill checkpoint at 62 miles, where the American left first, determined to put a break in. However, it was Evans who responded over the next few miles to make the decisive break, reaching 70 miles at Peachstone eight minutes ahead of Jones.
"I hit the pace exactly as I wanted to," Evans told iRunFar, adding that he ran cautiously in the early stages and was happy to sit behind a number of fellow runners. "Dakota Jones has some of the best ethics and morals in the sport so to spend so much time with him (during the race) was cool. It's nice to have someone for company early in the race too, especially if they are such a high calibre athlete as he is."
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Evans held the lead to the finish to win comfortably by almost 24 minutes over American Tyler Green in 15:04:09, with Anthony Costales third in 15:09:16 and Shen in fourth in 15:19:42 as Jones eventually faded to 17th.
"When I got a lead, I thought "just keep pushing" as I wanted that 'elastic' to snap," said Evans. "At the finish it was wild, like an outdoor party and incredibly emotional."
A GB international at ultra distance trail, plus cross-country and half marathon, Evans is a former British Army Captain but left the military in 2019 to become a professional ultra-runner. After doing the Marathon des Sables in 2017 for a "drunken bet", he finished a surprised third overall and has since gone from strength to strength.
In 2019 he ran the fastest-ever time by an international runner at the Western States with 14:59 in his first 100-miler and last year took third place in the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc.
After getting married to international triathlete Sophie Coldwell after the UTMB, he finished runner-up in February’s Black Canyons 100km in Arizona and won the 50km event at Ultra Trail Snowdonia in May as part of his build-up to Western States.
On Saturday (June 24) he improved on his third place from 2019 by almost 20 minutes.
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Jezz Bragg has been the only other British man to make the podium at Western States. He did so in 2009, although Bragg, who was fourth in 2011, Paul Giblin, who was fifth in 2016, and Mark Hartell, fifth in 2001, have achieved top six placings previously. Ex-pat Ian Sharman, based in Bend, Oregon, for several years, has also achieved four top six placings.
American Courtney Dauwalter, the double UTMB winner, led from the start in the women’s race and set a course record of 15:29:33 in finishing sixth overall. She was well over an hour ahead of fellow American Katie Schide, winner at UTMB in 2022, who clocked 16:43:45. Ester Csillaig, a Hungarian living in Hong Kong, was third.
Dauwalter bettered Ellie Greenwood's previous course record of 16:47:19, which was set when winning in 2012. Greenwood, who also won in 2011, along with Beth Pascall in 2021, have been previous British winners of the women’s race.
"I'm a little in disbelief that it went so well," said Dauwalter, who is ambitiously aiming to race again soon in the Hardrock 100 in Colorado on July 14. "I was really excited. Finishing was my No.1 goal and I was so excited to get back out on a course and revisit spots that I hadn't seen since 2019."
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