Will Kilian Jornet be crowned king of Western States 100?
"Preparation has gone well, focused and intentional," Jornet says
COROS
In 2010, a then-22-year-old Kilian Jornet took on the legendary Western States 100 (WSER) for the first time, and placed third. A year later, the young Spanish athlete tackled the race again, and won. Jornet didn’t return for more than a decade, instead making a name for himself by dominating snowy, mountainous ultras, and setting records with mind-blowing traverses through the Alps. But this weekend, the global icon will once again toe the line in California’s high country. Has all his time in the mountains prepared him to land on the podium once more?
Out of the Alps and into the heat
“Returning to Western States is exciting, it was my first big win, a moment that shaped my early career,” Jornet told Canadian Running. “Now I feel that I’ve grown both as an athlete and as a person… I remember the heat and the feeling of racing in an unknown terrain. Back then, it was all discovery and instinct.” Jornet’s much-anticipated return to the hot and dusty trails where it all began has required a game plan.
Best known for high-altitude sufferfests like Hardrock 100 and UTMB, Jornet says that WSER presents a different beast. “To me, the biggest challenges are those that I’m not used to: heat and flat.” He’s been adapting on a treadmill in a sauna-like setup. “We have a small gym… I warm the room to 35–45 °C and exercise there. I did three short sessions during the winter… Now I’m doing three sessions per week—two to three hours [each].”
A creative pacing strategy
WSER is very much about camaraderie as well as competition, and Jornet is embracing that too. He opened up a pacing slot to a stranger via social media, in a move that turned heads and had enthusiastic fans eagerly applying for the position. “The atmosphere of community at the event is incredible, so to give back more this time round is a fun idea,” he says.
Data, discipline and Dad life
While Jornet is known for sharing detailed data from his training to give insight into his performance, he says that he relies heavily on internal cues, too. “I really use effort pace as a metric for training and racing,” he says. While Jornet has held onto his intuitive approach, juggling fatherhood, running and his running brand, NNormal, has forced him to be more structured with his time. “Fatherhood changes things… we squeeze the sessions with Emelie [ Jornet’s wife and an accomplished ultrarunner in her own right] when the kids are in kindergarten… When I was younger, I had unlimited time and my life was based around training.” Despite the new time constraints, Jornet feels ready to roll.
What success looks like now
Does Jornet feel pressure to reclaim the WSER crown? “I hope to run smart and adapt to the race,” he says. “Preparation has gone well, focused and intentional. If I finish knowing I gave it my best while enjoying the day, it will be good… The field is incredibly strong, and that’s inspiring.”
The 2025 edition of Western States 100 will kick off on Sat., June 28 at 7:15 a.m. ET. Track your favourite runners throughout the race by clicking here, or tune into the livestream here.
