The 50th running of the Western States 100 took place over the weekend and delivered on all of the excitement and drama we’ve come to expect from US ultrarunning’s biggest stage. Snowy conditions in the high country weren’t enough to stymy blistering times, including a new women’s course record that’s already being hailed as the greatest single run in our sport’s history. To recap the race, Matt Mitchell is joined by Matt Seidel, who also spent the day bouncing around the course from sunup to sundown. They talk about Matt Mitchell’s experience crewing and pacing Leah Yingling to a 9th-place finish; what it was like to be in the middle of the elite women’s field; trying to wrap their minds around Courtney Dauwalter’s performance; and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:The Matts Do Western States (2:09)Pacing Leah Yingling to F9 (3:14)Why This Race Rules (6:33)Course Conditions (9:27)Forest Hill, the Place to Be (13:05)Tom Evans’ Race Tactics (20:36)Anthony Costales, Hell Yea! (23:46)Courtney Dauwalter’s Course Record (25:41)How Coverage of the Race Has Evolved (30:53)Matt’s Golden Ticket Ambitions (40:44)How He Wound Up in a Banana Costume (46:48)Highlights & Shoutouts (49:13)RELATED LINKS:Western States 2023 Live StreamBecome a Blister MemberBLISTER+2024 Blister Summit InfoCHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:CRAFTEDBlister PodcastGEAR:30Bikes & Big Ideas Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.