Jenn Lichter continued her inspiring trail running story when she made a sensational 100-mile debut at Western States, not only winning the race but setting a new female course record into the bargain.
Now hailing from Missoula, Montana and with an incredible personal journey to get to this point, Lichter was positive from the outset and then ran away from her rivals in the last 25 miles and dipped under the previous best mark set by the GOAT Courtney Dauwalter.
It continued a long sequence of victories, all the while stepping up in distance – the Trangrancanaria Marathon, Broken Arrow Skyrace and Speedgoat Mountain Race were all ticked off in 2025 and all around the 50km mark.
She then made her 100km debut this year at the Black Canyon Ultras and again came away with the win – and a Golden Ticket for Western States.
‘All-day pace’
A sustainable pacing strategy and a winning mentality were two key themes when she spoke to Dylan Bowman on the live broadcast afterwards.
She explained: “Everyone saw that I got up the escarpment [the race’s opening and biggest climb] first and that was not planned. So essentially once we went over, I, just put the brake pedals on.
“I knew it was going to be a very long day. I knew it was my debut. And I just kept telling myself ‘all-day pace’, ‘all-day pace’. I wanted to start at a pace I could finish at.
“With that being said, that required for me to let go of girls who were passing me or running maybe a little faster but I just kept telling myself, trust the process, trust yourself, you’re really fit.
“And if for some reason you don’t end up getting the win or podiuming, then it was just not your day. But I knew I wanted to give it my all and I did. But that required also being really smart.”
Winner’s mindset
It was still very much in the balance at the river crossing at Rucky Chucky, 78 miles in, with just 90 seconds back from Lichter to Riley Brady in second.
But from that point onwards there was only one winner, Lichter adding: “I knew there was about 20 miles left of the race and I still felt really good.
“So I think I turned my 50k brain on and just said, I gotta send it now. And that’s what I did. I changed shoes for the most runnable part and then, just took off and I felt amazing.
“And it didn’t really start to hit until very late on where I was like, oh, I’m feeling this really bad. I did cry a little bit. But that is running Western States.
“I always say that if you want to win, you have to have a winner’s mindset. And that requires maybe a little bit of ego, or maybe it’s more about belief in your fitness, your training and looking back at your racing results.
“I think is really important as it takes out the fear factor of I might blow up or maybe I’m not cut out to be in the lead. It’s just having that mindset and believing that I worked really hard to get here, and that I deserve to give myself a chance.”
Trail running has already played such an important role in Lichter’s life and now she is inspiring others to take up the sport with her remarkable exploits.
