event ( the months prior ), the weekdays leading up to the event when the many foreign runners get here and for crew / runners for both Saturday and Sunday .”
Christine Horvath , marketing director for Palisades Tahoe , an Olympic Valley resort next to the race starting line , says her company sells out its rooms for this weekend every year .
Those who flock to the area include spectators , family , and friends who line places like Foresthill Road , watching competitors as they start to traverse the later miles of the race . On Sunday morning , spectators packed into Placer High School in Auburn ahead of the 11 a . m . cutoff time for finishers .
Radell-Harris says she ’ s been to the finish line numerous times .
“ It ’ s always fun to go ,” Radell-Harris says . “ They run up from the canyon , and then all of the people from all over town , and gosh , everywhere , come to watch them do the finish , and we all sit in the stands and cheer them on as they go around the last lap .”
They ’ re there to cheer for people like 50-year-old Andrzej Ulatowski , the final Western States finisher , who completed the race with about four minutes to spare . The cutoff is merciless , with one woman behind Ulatowski missing by about two minutes and her time not counting .
A few hours before this reckoning , Matt Ward finally finishes at 7:41 a . m . on Sunday . At 26 hours and 41 minutes , Ward ’ s time isn ’ t fast enough to earn him a belt buckle , nor slow enough to earn him the most desperate of cheers . He finishes 152nd out of 383 starters and 305 finishers .
All the same , after seven years , Ward has finally finished a Western States Endurance Run . And in the world of ultramarathoning and extreme sports , that ’ s sometimes enough .
“ With people who are extreme athletes , there is this kind of internally generated motivation .”
DR . ETHAN BREGMAN Sacramento-based sports psychologist
Nothing beats the roar of the crowd – especially in Sacramento . From the track to the field , the arena to the pool , sports competitions are bringing excitement , fun and serious impact to our region . Join us in helping to further elevate Sacramento ’ s reputation as a premier sports destination .
Graham Womack is a freelance writer based in Sacramento . His work has appeared in a variety of publications , including the San Francisco Chronicle , the Sacramento Bee and Sacramento News & Review . On Twitter @ grahamdude .
August 2022 | comstocksmag . com 57