Western States from the Sidelines

If your venture into UltraRunning has you dreaming of running Western States one day, I hope you’ve had the chance to be there in person to spectate, crew or pace. While I have run it 12 times, I have had the pleasure of crewing and pacing twice and learned a great deal. I have witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly – stuff that you don’t often see while you’re in the race, but that you can definitely learn from.

My first experience at Western States was in 2005 when I was given the opportunity to pace my friend Ed Willson. I had only learned about the race a