VIDEO: Billy Yang’s latest Western States 100 film is a must watch
Watch Billy Yang's newly-released film profiling four women at the 2016 Western States Endurance Run.
It’s not often that a feature film focused on running is released.
If you have 60 minutes of downtime, Billy Yang’s latest work, entitled Life in a Day, is a must watch. The film follows four of trail running’s biggest names, Magdalena Boulet, Kaci Lickteig, Devon Yanko and Anna Mae Flynn, during the 2016 Western States 100, one of the world’s most illustrious ultramarathons.
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Life in a Day was released on March 8 coinciding with International Women’s Day. Fortunately, Yang has made the film available for all to watch by posting it to YouTube. The project first debuted shortly before the 2016 The North Face Endurance Challenge 50-Mile (80K) Championships.
Life in a Day | The Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run
“I think most of us who pay attention to this sport can [attest] that the women’s side has been under-represented in many aspects of media,” Yang told Trail Runner Magazine in an interview. “While I recognized the opportunity to tell [the women’s] side of the race, I was also just naturally drawn to these four women, as athletes and as potential role models. I felt their stories needed be told.”
Yang, with the help of three other freelance videographers, captured footage at the 2016 Western States 100-Miler (161K), which begins at Squaw Valley ski resort and finishes at Placer High School in Auburn, both in California. Canadian Rob Krar won the event back-to-back in 2014 and 2015; North Vancouver’s Ellie Greenwood won the Western States 100 in 2011 and 2012, the year she broke the course record.
Some runners may be familiar with Yang’s as he has directed multiple race movies in the past including at the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, Western States 100 (on a previous occasions) and The North Face Endurance Challenge. His 15 Hours series, which provides a shorter version of a day in the life-type angle, is also popular on his YouTube page.
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