10 takeaways from the Western States, Hardrock lotteries

Western States arguably is as popular as it’s ever been, based on the record-setting number of participants and tickets in the lottery.

By Henry Howard

I was among those following the live Western States lottery drawing on Saturday, hoping one of my four tickets would be pulled.

But somehow my 3.3% odds of getting into Western States in 2025 didn't pan out. When I began this journey I figured it would be an eight-year proposition so I'm halfway there. Anything before eight years is a bonus.

Instead of running on the Western States trail in late June, I get to run another qualifier in 2025 for next year’s drawing. And I’ll have a sweet 16 tickets at that time.

While I didn’t get in, it was exciting to see others — some with far more tickets than me – get selected for what I would believe to be their goal 100-mile race. Western States arguably is as popular as it’s ever been, based on the record-setting number of participants and tickets in the lottery. (Race director Craig Thornley shares why he thinks that is and other great takes in my featured RD series this month.)

In addition to Western, the Hardrock Endurance Run also held its lottery Saturday morning. Here are some takeaways from the Western States, Hardrock lotteries as both races look absolutely stacked in 2025.

Key takeaways:

The first person drawn in the Western States lottery had one ticket. That's out of 68,724. That is absolutely bonkers.
What were the odds of both Osterzewski twins getting selected for Western States? And what will be the odds for both landing in the top 10? Melissa Ostaszewski is in for sure and Sarah Ostaszewski is a question mark at No. 49 on the wait list.
Leah Yingling has a monster 2025 lined up. She was already in Western States after her top 10 finish a year ago and she was picked for Hardrock. Additionally, she is signed up for the Gorge Waterfalls in April and the Cocodona 250 in May.
Good on Hardrock for bringing back Zach Miller for the 2025 race after appendicitis a few days before the race forced him to withdraw.
Will we see course records for the 50-and-over males? Jeff Browning at Western States and 2024 Hardrock champion Ludovic Pommeret are both capable of breaking the existing standards by quite a bit.
The Western States fields are already loaded with more Golden Ticket opportunities ahead. Among the contenders for the women’s race are last year’s runner-up Fu-Zhao Xiang, Eszter Csillag, Emily Hawgood, Yingling, Heather Jackson, Rachel Drake, Priscilla Forgie, Hannah Allgood, and Riley Brady, a nonbinary athlete who competes in the women’s division. And on the men’s side are course record holder Jim Walmsley, Hayden Hawks, David Roche, Rod Favard, Adam Peterman, Huo-Hua Zhang, Dan Jones and Jia-Sheng Shen. Check out this comprehensive look from iRunFar for more.
The Hardrock fields are smaller but look incredibly competitive, too. On the women’s side are Katie Schide, Katharina Hartmuth, Stephanie Case, Yingling and Aliza Lapierre. Lining up for the men’s race are Miller, Pommeret, Mathieu Blanchard, Germain Grangier. Check out this overview from iRunFar for more.
Don’t overlook the wait lists for either race, especially Hardrock. Contenders include Tara Dower and Arlen Glick, 7th and 11th on the “finished” list, respectively.
In 2024, the final runner to go from the wait list to the starting line was No. 35 Greg Bergeron, who was among the Golden Hour finishers. It was quite a journey, he says in this story. Previously, the final wait list places to get in the race were 56 last year and 68 the preceding year while all 49 made it in 2021.
Looking ahead to next year, will we see the number of first-time Western States entrants rebound? There were 4,122 entrants in the 2024 drawing. The above graph by Lynn Tsai that Thornley shared during the drawing and via social media, appears to indicate there were slightly fewer first-timers this year than in 2023 and about the same as the two previous post-COVID cancellation lotteries.