Western States Endurance Run (WSER) is an iconic 100 mile endurance run and takes place every June in California’s rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains. This race has been on my bucket list for many years. The demands of life, work, family and multiple running injuries made me put WSER on a back burner and in some ways let go of the dream.

In 2015 at CLAfitness ChelanCamp in 2015, we watched “Unbreakable: The Western States 100” a documentary showing the extraordinary drama and physical effort of the 2010 race and the fire was rekindled. My husband, Jim, noticed that I lit up watching the documentary and asked me later about the race. He knew the event was something I had always wanted to do and he asked why was I not entering the lottery? I heard the excuses I had made up in my head. I was too busy, too old, had too many injuries, the lottery was too hard to get into… 

He told me that was ridiculous and that if I really wanted to do it I should at least try. I had run White River 50 miler two times prior and knew I really enjoyed the long distance trail running. And just like that, I was determined to do my best to make it to Western States.