Ellie Greenwood’s victory at the 2011 Western States 100 continued the recent tradition of women’s Western States first timers winning the race, following in the footstep left by Anita Ortiz and Tracy Garneau the past two years. Like Ortiz two year’s ago, Greenwood’s win was made all the more impressive by the fact that it was her debut at the 100 mile distance. Despite that, she overcame some early troubles before moving up throughout the day. To make things even more interesting, after taking the lead late in the race, Greenwood treed a bear before continuing down the course. Find out more about the bear, her race, and what Ellie learned in her debut at 100 miles.
Ellie Greenwood Post-2011 Western States 100 Interview
An interview with Ellie Greenwood, the 2011 Western States 100 champion, following the race.
Bryon Powell is the Founding Editor of iRunFar. He’s been writing about trail running, ultrarunning, and running gear for more than 15 years. Aside from iRunFar, he’s authored the books Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and Where the Road Ends: A Guide to Trail Running, been a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, written for publications including Outside, Sierra, and Running Times, and coached ultrarunners of all abilities. Based in Silverton, Colorado, Bryon is an avid trail runner and ultrarunner who competes in events from the Hardrock 100 Mile just out his front door to races long and short around the world, that is, when he’s not fly fishing or tending to his garden.
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