WSTR, Tevis, WS100, WSER, WTF?
| June 16, 2016 | Posted by Melinda under Uncategorized |
If I had to hazard a guess, most of my readers either have a horse endurance background, or no background in endurance and somehow ended up here and stayed for the promise of a good story, even if they think all us endurance people are batsh*t crazy.
That’s why I thought today I would talk about the difference between the two Western States Trail events that I drone on and on and on and on….about.
Very simply:
Tevis (Western States Trail Ride/WSTR) = have that buckle
Western States 100 (WS100, Western States Endurance Run, WSER) = want that buckle.
Here’s Mel’s guide to the other “less important” differences (and similarities).
Date
Tevis: The weekend of a full moon in either late July or early August
WS100: Late June
Getting In
Tevis: Rider must have completed 300 miles in rides 50 miles in length or longer that were sanctioned by the country’s national organization, in this country most commonly the AERC. (there are other ways to qualify such as completing Tevis before, presumably prior to the mileage requirement, so have less than 300 miles…but this doesn’t apply to the majority of riders.
Bottom line: Every year I’ve wanted to get in I have. There’s a cap of 210 riders for the event. I typically register after my last prep ride in May or June.
WS100: To enter the lottery to get in, you must have completed a qualifying race (there is a list of accepted races) during the qualifying period. The lottery is held in December prior to the June race. Typically you have from January-November to qualify for next year’s WS100.
“That’s not a big deal”, you may say. “Run a race that WS100 deems worthy and then apply, what’s the big deal”.
Well. Let’s start by looking at the Lottery statistics for the 2016 race.
There were 3150 applicants vying for ~270 spots.
YIKES.
Wait, there’s more. If you name isn’t drawn, you have to re-qualify EVERY SINGLE YEAR you want to get into the lottery for a chance to run WS100.
There is a spot of good news. For every year you CONSECUTIVELY qualify and enter the lottery and don’t get picked, your tickets accumulate at the rate of 2^(n-1). Which means the first year you get 1 ticket (in 2015, 2233 people each with a 3.2% chance of getting in). The 2nd year you get 2 (639 people, 7.2 % chance). The 3rd year you get 4 etc. The 7th year in a row where you ran a qualifying race and wait anxiously for your name to be drawn, you have 64 tickets in that pot. In 2015, that was 5 people with a 90.8% chance of seeing their name drawn.
OK. What if you say phooey on the lottery? You gain entry other ways, like winning major races, getting a sponsorship spot, having an aid station thank you for years of service by giving you a spot etc. Not applicable to most of us.
Show me the money
Tevis: $400 entry. Various stable fees. $160 if you want to prepay for your buckle (non-refundable if you don’t finish). I can’t find the post ride fee for the buckle but as I recall it was about double the cost (which is what I did the year I finished).
WS100: $410 +”online fee”. Buckle included.
Finish requirements
Tevis: You have 24 hours to finish. Except…there’s 2 1-hour holds on the course that are mandatory that count against your ride time. So you really have 22 hours. And then there’s a bunch of gate and gos where you have to pulse down but no holds so (if you are efficient), it’s probably more like 21- 21 1/2 hours.
WS: You have 30 hours to finish and earn a buckle. If you finish under 24 hours you get a special silver buckle. There’s aid stations and some spots where you have to do mandatory “stuff” (like weigh in) but there’s no mandatory holds. You decide where you rest and take a break and for how long.
Speaking of finishers…
Tevis: In any given year about 50% of the competitors will finish.
WS100: I don’t have an exact number but looking at this table give me the impression it’s probably in the upper 60s to low 70’s. Some years close to 80% of the participants cross the line prior to the 30 hour cut off.
But what about the trail?
Trail is generally the same between the ride and the run, and is generally the same year to year. There are some differences between the ride and run. The riders start at Robie Park, the runners start in Squaw Valley. The riders finish at the Auburn Fair Grounds, the runners finish at Placer High School.
WS 100 overview.
Let me just say that the WS100 run website has some AWESOME maps of the course. Unlike the Tevis site.
In addition to the start/finish differences, I’ve been told there’s some other small differences too, but in general it’s the same course.
Pacers?
Tevis: No
WS100: Yes, starting at a certain point in the race.
Age restrictions?
Tevis: Juniors with adult sponsor allowed
WS100: No specific restrictions on age that I could find. Youngest female finisher was 22. Don’t know about male. I suspect that as long as you enter and qualify and get in through the lottery….then you are in!
Anything I missed?
What I posted….
1 year ago: There’s a gosh dang 50 this weekend!
5 years ago: Celebrate Something
7 years ago: Tevis training (edited), Re: Tevis, Monkey see Monkey do
Tevis buckle = one of my identifying life goals.
WS100 = ummm…maybe I’ll pace one of you guys 😉
I have a friend who is casually trying to get in. He has a bunch of other races he cares more about, but throws his hat in the race just in case. He has told me that if you are present for the lottery drawing, you get an extra ticket. I don’t know if you followed the whole debacle of the run requiring the founder of the race to qualify each year, but that really turned me off of the whole thing.
yes I did read and see that he has to qualify although he has a guaranteed entry. It’s been awhile since he has finished and I believe the last interview that I heard from him is that he agreed with the decision that he has to qualify and so far has managed to do so each year.
I’m not sure whether being present counts any more? They redid the lottery system about seven years ago and I know it’s different now.
They have an additional raffle for those present during the lottery so you can give yourself an extra shot that way. Due to the limited number of acceptable races many of the qualifiers are also lottery entry which makes choosing a qualifier inconvenient. We’re lucky to have several options in California. I don’t know what it is about both of these races, but I’m completely sucked in to both and am determined to have both buckles in my collection!
So that begs the question…if you qualify the first year but really hope to run it in two to three years do you show up and enter the raffle as a first timer to increase your chances that first year? Because life is short and who know whether you will qualify the next year? Or do you cross your fingers you won’t get drawn and enter the raffle and be there once you are really ready and need to increase your chances?
I just found an article about bonnet who finished Ws100 at age 18, I think making him the youngest make and youngest runner ever to cross the finish line (I don’t know if some one younger has started but not finished?