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Canada's Marianne Hogan headlines one of the deepest women's fields ever assembled for the Western States Endurance Run, which begins June 27 in Olympic Valley, California.
The race, recognized as the oldest 100-mile trail event in North America, returns nine of last year's top 10 women, including defending champion Abby Hall of the U.S. Hogan, who finished third in 2025 in 16:50:58, leads the Canadian contingent and is appearing at the event for the third time.
Hogan opened her 2026 season with a victory at the EcoTrail Paris 45K in March, clocking 3:21. She has not raced since but completed a Grand Canyon rim-to-rim-to-rim training run this month alongside China's Fu-Zhao Xiang. "I'm going in with the intention of performing better," Hogan said. "Whether that be a better ranking or a better time, we shall see on race day."
Xiang, a two-time runner-up at Western States, returns among the favorites. Other contenders include Colombia's Jennifer Lichter, who set a Black Canyon 100K course record and will make her 100-mile debut, and American Anne Flower, who broke Ann Trason's long-standing Leadville 100 women's record in 2025.
Also in the mix is 2020 Olympic marathon bronze medalist Molly Seidel, who placed fourth at Black Canyon this year, finishing ahead of Hall. Saturday's race will be the longest of Seidel's career.
