When Kilian Jornet edges to the front of the narrow Western States 100-Mile start line on June 28, he will be greeted with all the acclaim due a GOAT. Jornet is universally regarded as the most ambitious, accomplished, and technically skilled mountain trail racer of all time.
However, his first trip to Western States 15 years ago was quite different. Just 22 years old in 2010, he finished third, dizzy, overheated, and dehydrated.
Yet even then, he produced the most captivating sequence of trail racing ever witnessed on the 100-mile course through California’s rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains. The short video (link just below) must be watched to be appreciated.
At the time, Jornet was running on the heels of race leaders Anton Krupicka and Geoff Roes, the eventual winner. They had covered 42 miles and were beginning the long, steep drop down to an area known as Deadwood Canyon.
A camera somehow follows the threesome as they navigate the rocky switchbacks. The effort has been mostly casual to this point. Measured.
He Runs Like A Wild Animal
Suddenly, in Krupicka’s words: “Jornet just darts up on the berm of the trail, and disappears down the hill.”
In a moment, he has vanished from sight around the next curve. It’s as if Krupicka and Roes are running a different race at a different pace on an entirely different planet.
Krupicka continues: “He just bounds down the switchback like an antelope. I was blown away. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in running.”
Here’s the short clip. Watch it carefully. You might have to rewind several times to see how quickly Jornet flips into his flying-downhill gear. The clip comes from the feature film “Unbreakable,” which was released subsequently.
The following year, Jornet returned to Western States to take care of unfinished business. He succeeded handily with a winning time of 15:34:24, then the course record.
He has not been back since 2011. His appearance this year is one of several reasons for the big bump in Western States interest. With four-time winner Jim Walmsley off the start list, Jornet becomes the race favorite. But he will have plenty of competition.
Born And Raised To Run Strong In The Mountains
Jornet’s birth story rivals that of Paul Bunyan’s. It’s almost larger than life, like Bunyan’s, yet true.
He was raised in a mountain hut at 6,500 feet in the Pyrenees Mountains of northern Spain. By the age of 18 months, he could walk for five hours through the local hills. He reached the top of his first 3,000-meter peak (9,800 feet) at age 5, and hit 4,000 meters (13,200 feet) at 6.
At 13, he began training seriously, and several years later, he started winning major European ski mountaineering championships in his age group category. By 2008, he was almost unbeatable by anyone at any age in an assortment of ski racing and mountain running competitions. He practiced one sport in the winter and another in the summer.
He won his first Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc 100-Mile trail race in 2008 at age 20, and repeated the following year. He has won the Hardrock 100 five times (in five attempts), overcoming an average elevation of 11,000 feet and a highest point in excess of 14,000 feet. In one Hardrock, he fell and dislocated a shoulder. No problem.
In 2016, Jornet and his wife moved to Norway. The following year, he summited Mount Everest twice without Sherpas, guide ropes, or supplemental oxygen. He has held the Fastest Known Time for running up and down Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, Kilimanjaro, and Denali. (Several of his FKTs have been surpassed since he set them.)
Jornet’s racing career has been notable for its consistently high level. He has won several of Europe’s most prestigious and competitive mountain trail races 10 or more times. These include the 42K Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon in Spain and the 31K Sierre-Zinal in the Swiss Alps.
In 2022, Jornet joined forces with a Spanish company to create a shoe-and-sportswear company named “NNormal.” This doesn’t stand for “Not Normal,” as you might expect from Jornet’s many audacious adventures. The name derives from Norway (where Jornet lives) and Mallorca (where the Spanish company is headquartered).
The Long Road Back To Western States
In recent years, Jornet has traveled and competed less than he did in his 20s. Last September, he carved out time for an extraordinary trek he called his “Alpine Connections” project.
In a 19-day stretch, he ran and biked between, and to the top of, all 82 European Alps higher than 4,000 meters. He covered about 750 miles and climbed more than 247,000 feet.
All told, Jornet spent roughly 87% of the time on his feet and 13% on a bike. Afterwards, he noted: “That was without any doubt the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life, mentally, physically, and technically, but also maybe the most beautiful.”
The Alpine effort wasn’t a mano a mano race, however, and Western States surely will be. What’s more, Jornet’s preparation has been less than perfect.
Troubled by a knee injury for the last year, he first had to qualify at the Chianti Ultra Trail by UTMB 120K in Italy in late March. This required him to leave his wife’s side shortly before the birth of their third child. He was able to return in time for the baby’s arrival.
In Chianti, Jornet finished second, far behind the winner Jim Walmsley. However, second place was enough to earn him a “Golden Ticket” to Western States.
The WS 100 can accept only 369 starters. Some get in based on their top 10 finishes the previous year. A minuscule percentage of the more than 9,900 race applicants gain a lottery spot. Others, even a GOAT like Jornet, must qualify with a high finish in one of a handful of pre-selected and super-competitive “Golden Ticket” races.
Getting Older And Smarter
Jornet’s recent training in Norway has differed substantially from his routine of 15 years ago. Then he was known as a mega-mileage guy. He’d just head up into his favorite mountain trails and spend much of the day there.
Now he follows a more scientific or “specific” approach. He’s 37, after all, and needs more recovery time. He’s still worried about his knee, so he has limited his running to three days a week. This system appears to be working.
He knows that Norway isn’t the ideal place to prepare for a California sun and heat sufferfest, so he has done months of indoor, 100+ degree F. training on his treadmill and bike. He gets excited when he leaves behind a yawning pool of sweat. It means he is sweating sooner and more copiously. This, in turn, will deliver more cooling power to his skin when he needs it.
Jornet will arrive at the start in Olympic Valley as the acknowledged pioneer and legend of his sport. Many will have picked him to win.
However, he will face a strong field of highly credentialed competitors. They include the likes of Rod Farvard (second last year), Vincent Bouillard (winner at UTMB last summer), David Roche (last year’s surprise 100-mile star, with wins in the Leadville 100 and Javelina 100), Adam Peterman (2022 winner), and others.
Last Thursday, after a long flight from Norway to California, Jornet entered the Broken Arrow Ascent (2.15 miles, with a 1,800-foot climb) in Olympic Valley. It didn’t go well. He stuck with the leaders for about one-third the distance, then faded to 23rd. No other top-ranked Western States competitors entered the Ascent.
“Today wasn’t the day,” he reported on Instagram. “A cold after traveling meant the body didn’t cooperate to go full gas, but that happens in this sport! Time to adapt, and focus on the week ahead.”
We will publish profiles and Q/As with Farvard and Roche in the coming days.
Kilian Jornet Explains His Training, His Philosophy, And His Motivation
Below, Jornet shares several of his key thoughts about this year’s WS 100 and his long career in ultra-running. (Sources: a YouTube video he released recently, and a training blog he wrote last August.)
“The last time I did Western was 15 years ago. I think I’m a much better athlete now. Before, I didn’t think much about training, just about spending hours up in the mountains. Now I train smarter and more specifically. I need to do that at this stage in my career.”
“This year I’m running Western States just for the fun. I don’t really care if I win or podium or whatever. I think it’s fun because of the training challenge and the competition with the other guys. That’s what motivates me.”
“I don’t have anything on my bucket list anymore. I go to races where I can enjoy the process of training and try to learn something. It’s more the challenge of finding new limits, and really exploring what is possible out there.”
“I’ve had to keep the running to a minimum due to my knee injury, which wasn’t helped when I ran the Chianti 100K. I’ve been doing 22 to 25 miles three times a week with a bit of uphill and then some flat at around race pace. It seems to be working.”
“In my Western States training, I’d say I’m mostly trying to adapt to the heat and, secondly, to the pace of an ultra.”
“The goal this season is to be able to start sweating earlier in the heat, so I can cool my body faster. It’s not like you do just one heat session and get the adaptation. You need the heat training several times a week for a few months.”
“My 90-year-old friends say you must keep motivated to do things. They have goals that keep them training, and that makes them young, somehow.”
“Performance is the maximum expression of health. You need to think, ‘Health first.’ ”
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