North Vancouver

Peter Watson recently finished the 37^th annual running of the Western States 100 on June 26^th-27^th, 2010. We caught up with him to inquire about his first 100 mile experience.

What made you choose to sign up for the WS100?

- A co-worker of mine, Paul Purin, had attempted the run a month previous to my first 50 miler. After having run white river in 2006 in a time that would qualify me for the lottery, I signed right up. Not having luck on my side, it took me 4 more years until I was given the opportunity to run this race.

Why did it take 4 years before you got your spot?

- For 2 years in a row, my name was not chosen from the lottery. At the time existed something called the ‘2 time loser rule’, where if your name was not selected from the lottery 2 years in a row, you automatically got a spot your 3^rd time applying. The year before I was to do the race (2008) it was cancelled due to a forest fire. All those racers were then rolled over to the next year, leaving me another year to wait.

What was your training like and how was it different from years past leading up to the ws100?

- After having run my first 100km last year, I had a feeling that high mileage training was not going to be my best friend. Instead, I chose to focus on, getting my body ready for the elevation change versus the distance this race was going to demand. Workouts consisted of the infamous mountain highway runs, double BCMC’s, R2R2R in the Grand Canyon (50 mi), and the winter crossing of the Knee Knacker (in March).

Did you do any speed work?

- No, but I did manage to PB at Iron Knee by 7.5 minutes during my peak weeks of training.

Western States is known to be one hot race, how did you prepare your body to handle such elements?

- I spent 3 ½ weeks going to the sauna everyday, 2 hours being the longest.

2 hours!!! How did you keep yourself distracted for that long?

- I downloaded Podcasts and music to my Ipod and I actually made up laminated cue cards (24 in total) of the elevation profile from aid station to aid station, which I studied.

Did you have a strategy going into the race?

- I didn’t really have a race strategy but I did have a nutrition strategy that I wanted to stay consistent with. I also planned to cool off in most of the creeks by dipping my hat and wetting a handkerchief. Each person in my crew had ice packs that I would put down my back and against my groin to cool myself off at aid stations.

How was your race experience? What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

- My race experience was completely different than I imagined. The 2 main highlights that stick out in my head are (1) Getting to run with my pacers, who were my sister Kathleen and my good friend Kristen. I had not been planning on using a pacer if my day had gone smoothly, but when it went south b/w mile 55-62, I was glad to have the opportunity to bring them along. Having gone through this experience, I would definitely use one again. (2) Getting to experience the full cycle of the day. I got to see the sun rise twice over the course of 26 hours. It was really great to hear the birds chirping, while the sun rose and the moon set.

- A couple of the challenges that I faced that had a major outcome on my day were (1) My feet needing tending to at 55 miles (Michigan Bluff). I had a few hot spots that I got taped by the blister man himself (John VanHof)! (2) I had made a mistake on where I thought a key aid station was and when I realized it was much further along the course, my mental state went south and my nutrition followed along with it. For the first time all day the scale showed that I had lost 4 lbs in a really short period of time. I stopped eating because I thought I didn’t have enough water with me. This proved to be the real turning point in my day and once I got to Forest Hill (mile 62) both my crew and the aid station personal did a great job at getting me re-hydrated and on to new sources of fuel.

What was it like running in the dark?

- Peaceful. Tiring. Dark. The entertainment along the trail consisted of seeing giant centipedes, giant beetles, frogs, deer, and the crazy aid stations all done out with Christmas lights and booming music which could be heard from miles and miles away.

What did it feel like to finally cross that finish line?

- Good, except my crew thought I’d take a lot longer to get there, so my folks missed me at the finish. But, finally I was allowed to sleep without being told to get up and keep moving forward.

How did you celebrate?

- Sleep.

Will you do another?

- Yes. But on a course with less running.

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about doing a 100 mile endurance run?

- Have a plan but be adaptable. Try all sorts of things out in training not just what you know works for you.

Thanks Peter!

Interviewed by: Nicola Gildersleeve

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