Both Jim Walmsley and Katie Schide are bidding for something incredibly rare this week – a Western States / UTMB double.
Only Kilian Jornet has managed it for the men – back in 2011 – and though you only have to rewind 12 months for Courtney Dauwalter’s unprecedented Western States / Hardrock / UTMB 100-mile treble, Schide is looking for her own piece of history.
It’s a very different mindset for both – in 2023 everything for Walmsley was geared towards UTMB; he’d moved his family to France, he built up steadily and definitely resisted the tempatation of trying to take in Western States en route.
Not this year though, with his record-breaking performance in California coming just a couple of months before UTMB.
‘It’s hard doing both’
All of which means a contrasting preparation and speaking recently on the Singletrack podcast, which is embedded below, he admitted it’s something of a journey into the unknown.
“It’s been my goal [returning to UTMB] since the end of last year – nothing else felt equivalent.
“But every recovery after ultras is unique and it hasn’t been the smoothest transition [since Western States].
“It’s been a lot more recovery-based and a lot less training-based.
“I’ve had some inflammation problems and had to figure out what I can manage and start working with the cards you are dealt.
“It’s been three years since I’ve tried to do the double and it’s hard doing both races back to back, you’ve got to hope everything goes smoothly.”
‘The race will deliver the truth’
Much of which was echoed by Schide who has largely stayed off social media as she’s focussed on her UTMB build.
But writing on her Instagram page, she said: “Since restarting training following Western States, I feel like I’ve entered into a new sport. I fell in love with the Alps yet again, and have just been enjoying getting back to the kind running & hiking that first drew me into these crazy races.
“Not to say that running around the desert at 100F/40C wasn’t fun in its own special way, but it definitely took a little more effort to make it happen 🙂
“So here we are: race week. And I’m truly excited/curious/nervous to see where I’m at, having prepared specifically for this next race in a much shorter time frame than past years, but with more confidence about what I used to consider my biggest weakness (the actual running).
“I really don’t know how these factors will balance out, but the one certainty is that the race will deliver the truth and I’ll head home having learned something to take with me in the future.”
It will be fascinating to see how both fare this week and despite their exertions they go into their respective races as the clear favourites.
