Going to California!!!

As the year ends it's time to start to think about what next year may bring. I had not made any firm decisions as the results of my application to the Western States 100 had yet to be revealed.
The Western States 100 Endurance Run is one of the oldest ultra races and challenging to get into. A certain number of participants are "invited" by winning other endurance distance races and other slots are reserved for those who have managed aid stations in prior year races. After these commitments, 270 slots were left and over 1,500 from all over the world signed up for the race. A lottery is used to determine the remaining slots leaving me with a 17% chance of being selected.

Today ,in Auburn, CA, a lottery for the 270 available slots was held at noon. While eating lunch with the family I had mentioned to Amie that the lottery was being broadcast live through the website so she grabbed her laptop and pulled it up to find out that my name had not been chosen. When we realized that the lottery was only half over Amie continued to watch and listen with anticipation while I headed out to run an errand as I wasn't too optimistic of getting in since my chances at that point were reduced down to about 10%.

While at my friend Ken's, cutting trim to finish a bathroom remodeling project, Amie called and I immediately knew I had been selected as her screams of excitement rang through the phone. As you can tell by the odds not many get to experience the 100 miler from Squaw Valley through trails once used by gold miners that end up in Auburn, CA. This section of the Sierra Nevada mountain range is absolutely beautiful and I'm pumped to have the opportunity for this experience.

Wow..only six months away..time to start training.

California, here I come.