Vincent Bouillard runs 13:46:15 at Western States, 23 minutes under Jim Walmsley's record
On the third-coolest finish day in race history, the 2024 UTMB champion passed Francesco Puppi at Quarry Road and three men broke 14 hours.
Photograph: a finisher on the Placer High School track at the 2010 Western States Endurance Run, by Jon Roig, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsVincent Bouillard won the Western States 100 on Saturday in 13:46:15. Jim Walmsley's course record of 14:09:23 had stood since 2019; Bouillard, the Frenchman who won UTMB in 2024, took 23 minutes off it. The race starts at 5 am at Palisades Tahoe in Olympic Valley and ends on the Placer High School track in Auburn, 100.2 miles later with about 18,000 feet of climbing and more of descent. It was 51°F at the start and 74°F at the finish, the third-coolest high in the race's history, 16 degrees below its average.
Hans Troyer led from the gun and had six minutes by Last Chance at mile 43. Kilian Jornet left the race at mile 38; Walmsley attacked on the descent to Duncan Creek, then withdrew before Foresthill. Francesco Puppi took the lead at Peachstone, mile 71, and Troyer stopped at Rucky Chucky, mile 78. Bouillard, third at Foresthill, closed steadily and went past Puppi at Quarry Road, about ten miles out, for a two-minute lead he kept to the track.
Puppi, in his first 100-miler, was second in 13:51:08. Ryan Montgomery moved up late for third in 13:53:55, Thomas Cardin, also in his first 100, was fourth in 14:07:58, and Zach Miller fifth in 14:20:09. About 87 percent of starters finished, the highest rate the race has had.
The fastest Western States ever, and it still came down to the last ten miles. Cool weather lowers the times; it does not do the running.
Sources: iRunFar; Western States Endurance Run; Wikipedia.
