Western States: Ailsa MacDonald talks about her second-place finish

Ailsa MacDonald didn’t expect to finish on the podium at last weekend’s Western States 100. She did, however, come prepared to run a well-executed and smart race. This year’s WSER was MacDonald’s second, and her fifth completed 100-miler. We caught up with her post-race.

And in 17:46:45 for 2nd place, in the tenth fastest time in Western States history, Canada’s Ailsa Macdonald. pic.twitter.com/aYG5Loas3s

— Western States 100 (@wser) June 26, 2022

MacDonald, an accomplished endurance athlete who calls Cochrane, Alta., home, said that familiarity with the course was huge for her. “I went into the race with the goal of not getting too caught up in the competition, which is hard. It takes patience and discipline,” MacDonald says. She made that mistake in 2018, which she says was a “valuable lesson, since on this course, there’s a strong tendency to go out hot. I was suffering in 2018 before mile 50.” 

This year’s experience was entirely different. MacDonald focused on running her own race, regardless of the competition. While she experienced moments of suffering, she says, the race was “much, much more enjoyable than last time.” She said her initial slower pace, and her race strategy of “staying happy and moving forward” allowed for her to actually appreciate the course, something she wasn’t able to do in 2018.

“I wanted to run 100 miles of smiles,” she says. “I focused on putting a smile on my face and putting one foot in front of the other. This year, as I topped the escarpment, I wasn’t as caught up in the competition, so I was able to turn around and look back at the sunrise.” MacDonald lists off some favourite moments: “running through the high country and seeing all the wildflowers, enjoying all the spectacular views, and just appreciating my surroundings. Crossing the Rucky Chucky was really fun, too.”

At mile 78, Ailsa Macdonald of Canada runs in second. She’s 24 minutes off the lead. “I’m having the best day of my life!” #WS100 pic.twitter.com/RsUxEC0nZn

— iRunFar (@iRunFar) June 26, 2022

As any ultrarunner will attest, every race has highs and lows, and MacDonald had a few challenges with her feet. “The high country we ran through got my feet very wet, and then there’s a huge descent following it where my toes started to feel beaten up. By the time I was running on pavement in the lead-up to Forest Hill [aid station], my feet felt like one big hot spot,” MacDonald says. The magic that notoriously occurs at Forest Hill worked, though: “the energy is so contagious at Forest Hill, with all the spectators that come out, and seeing my friends and crew, that by the time I left I had almost forgotten about the pain and my feet started to feel better.”

MacDonald used tried-and-tested nutrition from her previous ultra-experiences: peanut butter and banana wraps, Lara energy bars and hydration mix. When her stomach started to feel queasy, she quelled nausea with ginger ale and pretzels. While the heat was intense, MacDonald didn’t find it as bad as in 2018: “It felt like it took longer to heat up, and there were some shady spots. The river crossing helped, too.” MacDonald also has a crew that has been with her through some challenges, and knows how to keep her going. “My husband, Barry Green, and our friends David and Leslie Roche were my amazing crew,” she says.

MacDonald was enjoying a full recovery week off when we talked to her, and said she would follow that by easing back in with some yoga and gentle cardio. Her next race will be Finlayson Arm 50K in September, but she says, “it’s not going to be a breakout performance or anything, Western States was my goal race this season.”

A Western States podium finish earned MacDonald her ticket to Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) 2023. After dropping out around 130 kilometres into 2021’s UTMB race, MacDonald says she has “some unfinished business out there.”

MacDonald will undoubtedly put her experience and discipline to good use when she heads back to Chamonix. With her remarkably well-strategized race and a second-place finish at WSER, she’ll be a contender to watch wherever she competes.