My Western States 2025 Highlights
Youth, Grit, and the Glory of the Golden Hour
What. A. Western States.
This year’s race was full of wild emotion and total thrills.
You can read about the times and rankings in the running gossip press. Here's only a quick summary of the elite race: Both the women and the men started at a course-record pace and maintained it as if the Western States was a park run.
Spoiler alert: 100 miles is not a park run, and the course records did not fall in the end.
Nevertheless, it was absolutely impressive — almost frightening — to see how the lead packs powered through the race. Not a single second was wasted. From my own experience, I know that crews are absolutely crucial, but this year's pit stop–style execution was on a whole new level.
Men’s Race
The next generation made its mark: six of the top ten men were 30 or younger, including race winner Caleb Olson, who came within seconds of history. He narrowly missed Jim Walmsley's 2019 course record of 14:09:28 with an insane time of 14:11:25.
Many favorites, such as Rob Farvard, David Roche, Vincent Bouillard, and Adam Peterman, couldn't keep up with the hellish pace. One by one, they cracked or dropped. The race was often compared to a moon rocket that jettisons more and more propulsion elements as it accelerates on its flight into space. Pretty accurate.
And Kilian? Of course, all eyes were on him. He powered through with the same determination and experience he always brings to the race. He finished third with a time of 14:19:22, which would have won in most years. An extraordinarily brave move to step into this fire.
Women’s Race
Conversely to the male race, apart from Emily Hawgood, all of the top 10 women were over 30. The top female runners were able to leverage their experience, especially fourth-place finisher Ida Nilsson, who secured a spot in the top 10 for the third consecutive year at the age of 43.
Abby Hall, the winner, also won the hearts of many. After her long injury break, her win at the Western States 2025 was perhaps one of the most beautiful comeback stories ever in ultrarunning.
Golden Hour and Golden Runners
However, the Western States writes its most moving stories when the pros have already showered and taken a nap. This is when the golden hour begins. Not the photographer's magic light, but the sacred time, one hour before the 30 hour cutoff, when most everyday heroes cross the finish line under the frenetic applause of the whole running world.
These are the runners who dared to start this race with nothing but a dream and the stubborn belief that they could – somehow – be able to cover 100 miles through the blistering Sierra Nevada heat. They're the ones who've been battling their demons in the darkness, pushing through when every fiber screams to stop, supported by crews who believe in them more than they believe in themselves.
These back-of-the-pack warriors embody the true spirit of Western States: it's not about the time on the clock, it's about the courage to start and the will to keep moving forward when everything hurts and the finish line feels like a distant myth.
In this golden hour, as families and crews wait with tears in their eyes, we witness the raw, unfiltered essence of human endurance, and perhaps something even more: the best of what it means to be human.
My 2025 Western States Hero?
My Western States hero for 2025 is Jeff “Bronco” Browning. Few ultra runners have had a longer professional career than he has. Like so many, he has always been mesmerized by the Western States and kept coming back. After his debut in 2002, when he was an inexperienced 30-year-old who achieved a respectable 79th place, it took him 14 years to return to the starting line in Auburn. However, time was on his side.
Fourteen years of races and miles taught him how to suffer smarter. He finished in the top 10 every time in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. In 2019, he achieved an impressive WSER best time of 15:55 at the age of 47.
After a rare DNF in 2021, Bronco returned to the Western States in 2025 at the proud age of 53 and in absolute peak shape. He has already won two hundred-mile races with course records this year. He finished Western States strongly in 19:12 h as the 18th man. An absolutely exceptional runner delivered an incredibly impressive performance.
And What About Adrian?
Of course, special attention was paid to Adrian Koch, who is from my hometown of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Many people thought that, at the young age of 24, Adrian would start off fast and burn out by the end. But the opposite was true.
It's incredible how experienced and professional he was in mastering this mammoth race. I haven't spoken to him yet, but according to the split times, he ran consistently like a pro. He started conservatively, found his rhythm, maintained it, didn't let the heat affect him, and pushed through to the end. His incredible result of 22:39:19h has nothing to do with luck. He earned it with smarts, absolute dedication and the love of his family & crew.
Everyone who followed Adrian's story shed a tear when he crossed the finish line. Maybe more than one.
Re-Runhundred?
If this WSER has done one thing, it's to confirm that I want to go back there. I have to. I will.
Depending on lottery luck, it'll be a long road. But with the Zugspitz Ultratrail 100k already in the bag as a qualifier, I've taken the first step.
It's just as much about the journey.
Everything Not Running
I've relaunched my "Hundert-Meilen-Herz" shirt from the German edition of my book. It's now available for preorder at a special price—either solo or bundled with the book.
Grabbing one of these shirts supports my writing while letting you rep your love for the Western States Endurance Run.
Run one hundred times, one hundred days, and one hundred more. One hundred kilometers, one hundred miles, one hundred dreams engraved into the ground beneath your feet. One hundred heartbeats, one hundred breaths, one hundred moments in time. One hundred layers of doubt and fear peeled away to reveal your strength and pride. Your hundredfold journey awaits.