"All eyes were on the 2026 Western States 100 lottery on December 6, 2025, as the 11,328 runners in the pool - up from 9,993 from last year - eagerly waited to see if their name would be one of the 254 names drawn to fill out the 369-person field of the iconic 100-mile race from Olympic Valley to Auburn, California."
"The route, with its 18,000 feet of climbing and 22,000 feet of descending, takes in everything from high alpine terrain in the first 30 miles to the deep and scorchingly hot canyons of the middle section of the race, to the final fast and runnable miles leading to the Placer High School track. Known for its heat, the race is often one of attrition and ice."
"While non-elite runners have to take their chances in the lottery system, the front ends of the fields are generally dominated by those with automatic entries, including the top-10 finishers from the previous year and those who'd excelled at one of the six Golden Ticket Races, where the top two or three finishers receive a coveted entry to the big dance."
11,328 runners entered the 2026 Western States 100 lottery on December 6, 2025, up from 9,993 the previous year, competing among 93,003 tickets for 254 drawn lottery spots to fill a 369-person field. The 100-mile route runs from Olympic Valley to Auburn, California, with roughly 18,000 feet of climbing and 22,000 feet of descending, featuring high alpine terrain, hot middle-section canyons, and fast final miles into Placer High School. The race often involves significant heat, attrition, and ice. Automatic entries favor top-10 finishers and Golden Ticket qualifiers from six designated races.
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