Pacers at Western States 100 mile Endurance Run: Emily Hawgood
The Tribune will continue to explore perspectives of professionals on pacing in the coming weeks. Emily Hawgood has placed in the top ten at Western States five of the last five years.
As soon as the topic of having pacers came up on the PTRA group I have had a heart felt need to speak up. We can’t let our elite athlete group change the incredible opportunity that is having pacers at Western States. I will argue to the end that having pacers is something special and with Western States being the oldest, most prestigious 100 mile event and paving the way for so many other events that now make up our international trail running calendar I think that a change here would spiral into lots of changes in the argument of free and fair competition but would in fact lead to a loss of the true heart of our community, the uniqueness of Western States and other events, the support for our races and much, much more.
I could write about the wild journey it is to have a pacer, how you can have both good and bad pacers, the loss of trust we seem to now have in athletes to not know and implement race rules, such as those explained in detail for crews and pacers at Western States. I could suggest that if we remove pacers that could lead us to controlling when and if athletes get to be allowed on course before race day, will runners then have to fall under UTMB rules of having required gear, having to run with a pack, one pack that is chipped at registration so you can’t change it, will we control the number of crew members we have disqualifying the opportunity for our friends and family to be there getting their hands dirty right in the mix with us all on the world stage and a lot more. But instead, I’ll just talk about the humans around this incredible event and the probability that preventing the full inclusion of some of these humans could have drastically devastating impacts on what we know and love about Western States.
Western States has an average field each year of 369-379 athletes with 11,328 lottery ticket hopefuls with a 2-10% chance of getting selected and probably about 60 elite athletes competing for a golden ticket too. By Western States allowing pacers, 738 (369 x 2) – 758 (379 x 2) with about 50 of these athletes racing being elites, meaning an additional 100 elite athletes get to be at the race pacing, all of these people get to be out on course and experience the magic of Western States on the trail on race day. With unlimited numbers for crews too, but for argument’s sake let’s give the runners all an additional 2 people (although most athletes have more) to crew at aid stations, so another 738-758 people 1 for team A (Duncan Canyon, Dusty Corners, Foresthill, Green Gate) and 1 for team B (Robinson Flat, Michigan Bluff, Foresthill, Rucky-Chucky, Pointed Rocks) and a team of about 1500 volunteers, the race brings over 3000 people to Tahoe and Auburn to be directly involved in Western States. This doesn’t even include supporters just out there to cheer on runners, or all the extra content crews, coaches, nutrition pros etc. FreeTrail just released their 2025 year in numbers of participation in fantasy picks and Western States was the most invested in race with 3,279 people participating while UTMB in second only had 1,860 people participating (that’s with over 10,000 athletes racing the races at UTMB week highly trumping Western States numbers of athletes racing.). This simple stat shows how much investment is in supporting and following the athletes at Western States and it is not just in the athletes racing, but in the community that is brought together here. Trail Con, shakeout runs, trailgating, Ultrarunning research presentations, High Camp Challenge and more are not made possible by the athletes racing - they are mostly being unsocial, putting their feet up, eating and getting ready to race 100 miles which they have poured everything into to be ready for. No, it is made possible by the support of all the crews and pacers of each athlete, the bonus elite athletes that are present because they have pacing duties and the community brought together there. Western States is not just about the athletes and definitely not just about the elite athletes, it is built on our running community.
It is THE place we all come to be together as one family to run along the epic trail that Gordy Ainsleigh paved the way on, showing us that the human body is capable of running 100 miles. Western States and the community involvement has helped trail running become professional, has brought attention and with it, money and support. It has been live streamed all around the world and brands see it as a valuable event to highlight and shape team calendars around. It is the true roots of all we know and love about being trail runners, just us, the trail and our community.
If we want more people to experience Western States, then they can organise Western States 50. It would be just the second half of the course where permitting for additional runners is possible and now people would not only get the opportunity to be part of the race, but they could also actually race themself.
As a European, I find Western States a bit of a clown show. Trail running is meant to be a sports where you run in a slightly uncomfortable environment (this is the wrong word, but we don't have smooth surfaces or perfectly placed aid station locations, we depend a lot on the environment) in semi-autonomy, but Western States looks more like Formula 1. Big crews, including an A and B crew, way too many people crowding the course and above all, a lot of people within an environment which was not designed for that many people. Do we suddenly not care about trail maintenance and environmental footprint any more?
By having a personal pacer, you slightly diminish the challenge of long distance running. The autonomy and time spent alone is part of the challenge. In doing so, you also give an unfair advantage to American runners who have a much easier time to get pacers compared to European or even Asian athletes.
Also, the argument that "pacers is a trail running feature" is not true. It is maybe an American thing, but I don't see pacers in the rest of the world. Even in Cape Town or other countries where there is a risk of being attacked on course pacers are not allowed.
I know that my thoughts are not really presented in a clear fashion here, but when I look at Western States, I can't help but see that we are distorting the nature of the challenge more and more in the pursuit of........more fans? More TV time? More money? We can't be annoyed that UTMB keeps squeezing all it can out of consumers and then not stand up for the essence of our sport.
Few races in the world use pacers. Each race has its own philosophy and should be respected. I posed this question to the PTRA group. What is PTRA's interest in removing pacers?, and how does this benefit trail running worldwide? I'm still waiting for a response. Trail Running should be respected and allowed to maintain its independence. WS continue with pacers