Western States 100-Miler

FINALLY.
4 years ago when I decided to give ultra-marathoning a go, I was aiming for the Western States 100-Miler. It's the oldest and most popular of the nation's 100 mile races. I gave myself 3 years to do it. Well here we are, I'm heading into my 5th year in the sport, I've run over a dozen ultra-marathons including a couple of 100 milers and I still have yet to run this race. The problem is in the race's popularity. There are only 349 slots and too many runners want to do it. So like the New York Marathon they instituted a lottery system, the only ones exempt are the pro's and the fast amateurs. Not being either I've been entering the lottery. The last two years my name has failed to come up but according to the rules if I qualified and applied for the third time my entry would be automatic. Almost didn't happen. I forgot to mail in the application and remembered it the night before the deadline. I was ready to drive to Sacramento to the race directors home to make sure it got in on time, fortunately I didn't have to.

Today was the lottery and even though I knew my entry was automatic it was still awesome to see my name on the list of entrants.

Here's to the new year.