Jim Walmsley has a thorn in his side in the form of the Western States Endurance Run. Two years in a row he’s entered the prestigious 100-miler as the much-hyped favorite and two years in a row he has left disappointed.
In 2016, he attacked his debut at the distance aggressively, going out at a pace 40 minutes ahead of the course record of 14:46:44, set in 2012 by Timothy Olson. He made a wrong turn at mile 93, Start from the beginning. What happenedth place finish in 18:45:36.
At the 2017 race on Saturday, which starts in Squaw Valley, California, and ends in Auburn, he took off at the same torrid pace, running into ice, snow, and deep mud within the first 20 miles, then coping with brutal triple-digit heat. Even when the conditions started taking a toll, he didn’t slow his pace to something more sustainable.
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His transparency regarding his intention to not only win this year, but go for the course record again drew a lot of attention from spectators and media. Cameras documented his every move.
Walmsley described the race in a phone interview on Thursday with Runner’s World.
Runner’s World: What Happened to Jim Walmsley at Western States?
Jim Walmsley: I started out wanting to get off on a good pace from the beginning up to the escarpment [about mile 4]. I knew there was a lot of time that could be made up there without a whole lot of effort, but then immediately you get into the high country. What ended up happening is that it was icy, pretty rugged and lots of falling, and pretty slow. I came through the 16-mile split like one minute off the year before, but I was way more efficient in 2016.
From there I actually ran a pretty good time, but was like, “Whoa, these trails are in a lot rougher shape this year and things are going a lot slower.” You could feel all the way up to Robinson Flat [mile 30] that it was a really warm morning as well. Just on the starting line it wasn’t cold at all. Temperatures seemed to start pretty warm. Even at the 16-mile point I wanted to do a check of like, “How do I feel? How do I think things are going?” By the time I hit Duncan Canyon [mile 24] and Robinson Flat I got a feel of where other people were and what was happening.
RW: Did you hesitate, given that it was early in the race?
JW: I really wanted to slow down and try to maintain a more comfortable, easy pace and take care of myself really well. I would try to take a little more time through aid stations to slow down that rhythm, but I was still clicking really good splits. Usually that’s a good thing and nice, but it ended up being the downfall. Not being able to slow down meant I was just overheating. Around Devil’s Thumb [mile 48] things got really warm. Michigan Bluff [mile 55] is a hot climb. I was pretty beat up by the time I got to the top of Michigan Bluff.
RW: Were doubts creeping in at that point?
JW: When you get to Michigan Bluff, you’re just thinking that you have to make it to Forest Hill [mile 62]. You get to see everybody there and your crew. It’s just a huge, uplifting moment. I could switch shoes, switch socks, you pick up your pacer, which Tim Freriks was picking me up at that point. I was excited to share some miles with him. You know you’re getting into the more flowing Cal Street section, which theoretically should be easy, relatively. Forest Hill was the beginning of what ended up being the end. I could tell from miles 40 through 60 that, probably because the pace in the warmer weather, my stomach wasn’t feeling as good and I wasn’t eating as many calories. I knew I was getting behind on calories.
RW: What can you do when you’re behind on fuel in a 100-mile race?
JW: At Forest Hill I tried downing a lot of calories to try to make it up. And then ended up puking everywhere at Forest Hill just in front of a huge crowd. I was like, “This is the worst place ever to puke.” Sometimes, especially this year with everything going on, I thought, “I’m probably going to have a camera pointed at me while I puke.”
It felt better after that but the bad thing was I didn’t get calories in my body so I was still deficient.
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JW: I was able to roll decently to Cal 1 [mile 66]. Cal 2 [mile 71] I hit a bit of a struggle bus—more walk/jogging…a lot more walking. It’s only 2.3 miles to the Cal 3 aid station and it’s like, “I think I can make it there.” We stopped at Cal 2 for a while to try to be smart about things, slow down. We were just stopping in every creek to cool down. If you can cool your body temperature down, you can start digesting food again a little better. We got to Cal 3 and it’s another five miles down to the river [mile 78]. It’s a really, really, really hot section. We took extra time at Cal 3 trying to drink more, eat more. We ended up going out of the aid station about 100 feet and I just threw up everything again.
RW: Now you’re really behind on fueling. Like, you probably don’t have any fuel at this point?
JW: I was getting deficient from miles 40 through 60. But then miles 73 or so it was like I didn’t eat anything substantial. The muscles are starting to run out of everything. I ended up walking back into the aid station at Cal 3, sitting down. They put this 20-pound bag of ice on my lap. I just said, “I don’t know what to do. I just need to sit down.” We sat there and gave it 10 more minutes before we would try to hike down to the river. We wanted to see how things would go if I could get down to the river.
A five-mile hike takes a long time. After leading by so much for that long, mentally it’s pretty negative to be hiking that long. We made it two or three miles before [eventual winner] Ryan Sandes caught us. He wasn’t with a pacer and was drenched in water and moving really well. I don’t know if I was sitting down or not.
RW: So you weren’t able to keep moving?
JW: It became a thing of like I would just try to make it to the next shaded area and I’d be exhausted and have to sit down. Even though I was sitting down I wasn’t getting cooler. The thought was that if we could just get down to the river we could stay in the river long enough that I could get things under control.
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Ended up getting to about a mile from the river at mile 78 and I was just lying down. I said, “Dude, I just can’t. We’re waiting 10 minutes in every patch of shade. We’re only making 100 yards at a time. I’m just not functioning at all.” My stomach felt absolutely terrible. I was in a really bad spot and my muscles were bonked out completely. I said I was ready to tap out and call it.
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JW: By that time a couple people had passed us. I was lying down on the ground in the shade. A couple runners came by and they were like, “Oh no! Are you all right?” I said I was fine, but completely done. People were really appreciative of the effort I had put out, trying to go for it like that, doing it solo. It was cool because it felt like even other guys in the field were rooting for me, too. It’s pretty disappointing. There was a huge film crew following me. You’re seeing things go south in the moment, it’s so disappointing and it’s like so much weight that you feel. You feel like you can’t be letting this happen, you can’t drop out. But gradually things just got worse and worse.
RW: Where did you go from there?
JW: They decided not to have a vehicle pick me up. It was better, though, because four or five guys who I train with in Flagstaff all came back to get me with ice bandanas, fresh water, some potato chips that they made me suck on. I stayed at the medical aid station for an hour or more, just drinking broth. They wanted to see me keep it down and also wanted me to pee before I left. After an hour I didn’t, but I was keeping it down. They were okay with me leaving because I was talking in normal sentences.
Immediately when I got up, everything came right back up. The rest of the night and the rest of the day I was vomiting left and right. It ended up being a mature, good decision to not push past that. This isn’t the only race in my life. There’s a next race and there’s a career and a process with it all that you have to keep in mind.
RW: got lost, and shuffled in to a 20?
JW: I don’t know if it was recoverable with how bad my stomach was. I don’t think it was. I don’t think I was coming back from that. I don’t know how long it would have taken to stagger to the finish. I probably would have screwed over a couple of future races. I made it 75 miles and I put out a real honest effort. It’s not like I was throwing the towel in easily at all. It just didn’t end up working out that day. It was definitely, in retrospect, not a good strategy for the conditions and weather this year.
RW: What happened at that point, after you decided to pull the plug?
JM: I wanted to go out and see for myself what the back country was going to be like. I don’t want to start a race limiting myself with splits that are slower because I think it’s smarter that way. I wanted to rely more on adaptability and changing my race plan in the race. That’s what I failed to do—changing my pace and race plan while I was running. That’s where the lack of experience in 100 miles really showed.
RW: Was dropping out the right decision?
JW: As you get into any elite level of a sport, the more you can have a short-term memory the better it’s going to serve you. I need to forget about it and move on. Right now it’s one bad race and one bad experience. I’m not planning on changing anything or adjusting my game plan of competing for top five at UTMB. I want to put my nose in there and compete for a win if that’s possible. My thoughts are now going toward how to be competitive there.
Moving forward, I think it was just a little bit of not adapting enough in the race. I need to be more flexible with slowing much more considerably and adjusting that way.
RW: What happened to your hair? I saw your famous curls were buzzed after Western States?
JW: I made a bet with Eric Senseman that I wouldn’t lose a race this year. I didn’t expect it to happen at Western States, but a deed had to be paid so I went through with it because I’m a good sport. I already miss it. I’m going to start growing it out again already. That’s my personality being expressed with the longer hair.
RW: Was dropping out the right decision?
JW: The simple answer is that I’ll definitely be back eventually. I’ll probably be back next year, but I’m not totally sure. Right now it’s only UTMB on my schedule. We’ll see. I love the race, love the experience. Now I have a little monkey on my back with it. Eventually I gotta knock it off and get one really done at Western States.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misspelled the last names of Timothy Olson and Tim Freriks.
