Britain’s Fiona Pascall says she’s “just getting started” after a superb fifth-placed finish at Western States.
She has racked up the wins in the last 12 months but came into the oldest and most iconic 100-mile race relatively under the radar.
But she paced it superbly to move through the field in the second half of the race in California to round out the top five behind impressive winner Abby Hall.
‘Start calm and finish strong’
Pascall booked her ‘Golden Ticket’ for Western States by winning the Chianti Ultra Trail in March and last year she landed two other UTMB World Series races – Wildstrubel and the Mozart 100.
And looking back at her trip Stateside, she posted on Instagram: The aim was to start calm and finish strong.
“Top 10 was a goal which made cruising at the start easier because I wasn’t stressed about so many women going out fast. So I came into Robinson (50km) feeling fresh, cool and ready for the canyons.
“My INCREDIBLE crew @beccaswabes, @jgbentley @victormoraw, James and my Matt set me up to head into the heat. I hadn’t run with ice before and it turns out ice is freaking awesome 😎
“I’m not sure if it was the ice keeping me cool or the adrenaline from being charged by a bear 🐻 that made the canyons better than expected, but getting through them feeling ok was an amazing feeling.”
‘Everything it promised to be’
And while others then struggled in the searing heat, Pascal started to pick off runner after runner.
She added: “Having @sharmanian pacing me from Foresthill was invaluable. I felt pretty good and the temptation was to start pushing on the long descent to the river. Ian kept me moving comfortably but ensured I didn’t over-do it so I had the beans to push in the last 30km.
“I felt pretty frazzled at Rucky Chucky (38°) but I had Matt pacing me to the end and he kept me going. My quads and toes were very sore by this point but running on the flat was OK. Matt was getting word about the women in front of me and was cracking the whip to keep me pushing hard!
“I really didn’t feel like racing at the end but we caught the amazing @shesallgood21 at the bottom of the penultimate climb and she stuck with me so I had to keep running to pointed rocks (150km).
“There I learnt that the equally amazing @hahautrailrunner was 1 minute up, so the sprint finish was on. We caught her just before Robie point (158km) and because I really didn’t want to have to sprint on the track, I kept running up the last hill and managed to make up a tiny cushion.
“My crew can testify from the noises I was making that I wasn’t comfortable, but the atmosphere at the finish was incredible and I will never forget the feeling of running in with my friends (old and new) knowing that I’d given everything, and it was enough.
“@wser is everything it promised to be, a true representation of this beautiful sport. The work that the crews, volunteers, supporters and pacers did is so incredible and selfless, I’m completely overwhelmed with gratitude.
“5th is far beyond what I could have dreamt of a few years ago, but with the support I have, I feel like I’m just getting started.”
