A record on the first attempt
On 27 June 2026, Jenn Lichter ran the women's Western States 100 in 15:28:05. It was her first race over 100 miles. Her time was a bit under Courtney Dauwalter's course record of 15:29:33, set in 2023. The margin was eighty-eight seconds, closed in the final mile.
Cool temperatures facilitated fast times across the field, and this year's women's race was likely the strongest the event has seen. Nine of the top ten finishers from the previous year returned, including the defending champion Abby Hall and Marianne Hogan of Canada. Into that company stepped a debutante, and she led from early.
The race was decided over the second half. Brady threatened to close through Volcano Canyon, reducing the gap to around ninety seconds, before Lichter rallied on the descent into Dardanelles at 65.7 miles. Brady hung two minutes back at the river crossing at mile 78, but by mile 85.2 Lichter had built a seven-minute lead, and at that point she was four minutes ahead of the course record. Riley Brady took second in 15:42:14, and Marianne Hogan crossed third in 15:51:44 for a personal best on the course.
Effort, held all day
The plan was restraint. Lichter focused on running her own race and said she had settled into an effort she believed she could maintain all day. The record was not the object until late. It was only on the climb to Robie Point, mile 98.9, that her partner, Nick Cornell, asked if she wanted a course record; up to that point she had been pacing by effort and not watching split times. She then quickened, turning a thirty-six-second advantage at Robie Point into a course record by 1:28 a little more than a mile later. The finish came with a lap of the Placer High School track at a 5:20-mile pace.
She had arrived with form, if not distance. Lichter came to Olympic Valley after winning the Black Canyon 100K in Arizona in February, where she also set a course record. The 30-year-old from Missoula, Montana, took the lead from the first climb out of Olympic Valley, and her real competition was history. Her rise has been quick; she came to trail running while working at Glacier National Park half a decade ago.
When it was done, she spoke plainly of the effort. She said it was really hard, and that she was grateful to get the day she knew she could.
One race at the distance. One record. The rest of the story is still ahead of her.
