AUBURN, Calif. – Lewis Taylor’s life has been changing almost by the minute this spring. The 33-year-old reporter from the Eugene Register-Guard and his wife have been expecting their first child this month.

And, earlier this spring, with his victory in March’s Way Too Cool 50-kilometer race in Cool, Calif., Taylor became one of the first beneficiaries of a unique agreement between the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run and Montrail shoe company. In late 2006, the two endurance sports leaders reached a sponsorship deal giving the world’s finest trail runners six opportunities to qualify for Western States, the world’s first and most prestigious 100-mile trail run.

By finishing among the top three men and women at the six “qualifying” races throughout the country – three of which, Way Too Cool, the American River 50-mile and the Miwok 100K, are held in northern California – runners can earn a spot on the Western States starting line in Squaw Valley, Calif., on June 23. They will join more than 360 runners from throughout the world for the 34th running of Western States.

“Knock wood, I’m definitely running Western States,” said Taylor, who has made a meteoric rise through the ranks of the ultra world over the past two years. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to have that opportunity. It makes a race like Cool all that much cooler and I can’t thank the organizers and sponsors enough for adding that extra incentive.”

Taylor said the Montrail Cup – which will crown its men’s and women’s overall champions after Western States – has become even more valuable to the ultra community with its partnership with Western States. He said the knowledge that he was gunning for a spot at Western States helped motivate him throughout his impressive victory in 3 hours, 41 minutes on March 10.
“Like a lot of runners, it was in the back of my mind throughout the race,” he said.

Tim Twietmeyer, a 25-time finisher and five-time champion of Western States, said the agreement with Montrail has helped make this year’s race “one of our most competitive fields in several years.”

“We’ve always gotten many of the country’s and the world’s best,” said Twietmeyer, who is also president of the Western States board. “But this year, thanks to the Montrail Cup races, the fields on both the men’s and women’s sides are probably as deep as they’ve been in a long time. Both the men’s and women’s races look to be wide open and extremely competitive.

“Working with a great company like Montrail, we feel the race is adding even more to its tradition of being the most prestigious 100-miler in the world.”
Race director Greg Soderlund said he has had some interesting requests due to the Montrail Cup agreement. One runner was ecstatic to qualify by taking a top-three spot at the American River 50-miler in April. Almost as soon as she crossed the finish line in Auburn, however, she remembered family commitments she had for the rest of the summer, and asked Soderlund if the rules permitted her to defer her qualification for Western States until 2008.
“As much as we would have liked her to be in this year’s race, you just can’t do that … the rules are pretty specific that if you qualify this year, you have to run this year,” Soderlund said with a smile. “We hope that she’ll qualify again next year.”

 WHAT: 34th running of the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run.

 WHEN: Saturday, June 23, 2007, 5 a.m. start in Squaw Valley, Calif., finish 100 miles later at Placer High School in Auburn, Calif.

 THE COURSE: Runners start at the base of the home to the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, Calif., climb more than 18,000 feet and descend almost 23,000 feet through the mountains of the Sierra and into the canyons of the historic California gold country, before fording the Middle Fork of the American River’s Ruck-a-Chucky crossing and finishing on the track at Placer High School in Auburn, Calif.

 THE FIELD: Men’s entrants include defending champion Graham Cooper, 37, of Oakland, Calif.; Brian Morrison, 28, of Seattle, Wash., who led the race until the final 300 meters in 2006, when he collapsed, exhausted, on the track and was helped across the finish line, leading to his disqualification; Lon Freeman, 32, of Kensington, Calif., who set a new course record at the Miwok 100K in May; Greg Crowther, 34, of Seattle, Wash., 2007 USAT Road National Champion at 50 and 100K distances. Women’s entrants include 2004 and 2006 champion Nikki Kimball, 36, of Bozeman, Mont.; 2005 champion Annette Bednosky of Jefferson, N.C.; Beverley Anderson-Abbs, 43, Red Bluff, Calif., 2006 runner-up at WS and 2006 champion of Vermont 100-miler; Anne Lundblad, 41, Swananoa, N.C., 2006 Sunmart 50-mile champion and UltraRunning magazine’s North American Runner of the Year in 2005-06; Kami Semick, 40, Bend, Ore., first female at Miwok in May, ahead of second-place Kimball.

Western States 100: ws100.com
Montrail Cup: ultracup.montrail.com/overview/