Welcome to iRunFar’s eleventh annual Western States 100 prediction contest! Drymax, Hoka One One, Buff, Julbo, Altra, Maggie Tides Design, GU, and Squirrel’s Nut Butter have all contributed great prizes. As in past years, we’ll have both merit-based winners as well as a random winner, so give this contest an honest go and you could end up bringing home some great gear!
Read on to learn how this contest works, to see what you can win, and to enter the contest.
The Basics*
The rules are the same as they’ve been the previous 10 years. You select, in order, your top-8 picks in both the men’s and women’s field. Points are accumulated based on the difference between a runner’s projected placing and their actual placing. (Placing is gender specific.) Given the reality that some top runners will drop out, only your five most accurate picks per gender will count. All DNSs and DNFs will be scored as if the runner placed one spot behind the final finisher. Your goal is to have the fewest total points among your 10 scoring runners (5 men and 5 women).
Here’s an example of how points are awarded for a single pick. If I pick Ian Sharman for fifth man and he wins, I’d accumulate 4 points (|5-1|=4). On the other hand, if I pick Sharman to place fifth and he finishes as ninth man, I’d again accumulate 4 points (|5-9|=4). I’d get the same 4 points even if he’s beaten to the track by an additional woman.
The Drymax iRunFar Sock!
Ties will initially be broken by the lowest number of points accumulated from the contestants’ picks for the men’s and women’s masters winners. (You can choose a masters winner who you previously chose to place top-8 overall.) If a tie remains, the accuracy of the picks of the overall winners will be the second tiebreaker. Any persistent ties will be resolved through a random drawing.
Please note that the entrants list used is as of 3:10 p.m. PDT on June 15th. While there will be changes to the entrants list before race day with the waitlist system, we’re all on a level playing field picking from the same list.
The contest will close at 6 p.m. U.S. PDT on Wednesday, June 26. That’ll give me time to, once again, analyze all your picks for a ‘group-think’ analysis prior to the race.
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The Prizes
Merit Prizes
Here’s what each of the three merit-based prize winners will receive:
First Place
From Drymax: 6 pairs of running socks of the winner’s choosing, including the option for eponymous sock versions of 2019 WS 100 runners Kaci Licktieg and Ian Sharman, as well as the iRunFar sock;- From Hoka One One: A pair of Hoka trail running shoes of the winner’s choice;
- From Buff®: An iRunFar BUFF® Original Multifunctional Headwear;
- From Julbo: The winner’s choice of a pair of sunglasses;
- From Altra: A waterproof Wasatch Jacket;
- From Maggie Tides Design: A 13×19″ print of the Western States course;
- From GU: 24-serving Summit Tea ROCTANE Energy Drink Mix, 24-pack Hoppy Trails Energy Gel, and 10-pack box of ROCTANE Protein Recovery Drink Mix; and
- From Squirrel’s Nut Butter: A prize pack from Squirrel’s Nut Butter, including a stick of their all-natural anti-chafe salve.
Maggie Tides Western States print. (prize will be a paper print, rather than canvas)
Second Place
- From Drymax: 4 pairs of socks of the winner’s choosing;
- From Hoka One One: A pair of Hoka trail running shoes of the winner’s choice;
- From Buff®: An iRunFar BUFF® Original Multifunctional Headwear;
- From Julbo: The winner’s choice of a pair of running sunglasses;
- From Altra: A waterproof Wasatch Jacket;
- From GU: 12-serving Summit Tea ROCTANE Energy Drink Mix, 24-pack Hoppy Trails Energy Gel, and 10-pack box of ROCTANE Protein Recovery Drink Mix; and
- From Squirrel’s Nut Butter: A prize pack from Squirrel’s Nut Butter, including a stick of their all-natural anti-chafe salve.
Third Place
- From Drymax: 2 pairs of socks of the winner’s choosing;
- From Hoka One One: A pair of Hoka trail running shoes of the winner’s choice;
- From Buff®: An iRunFar BUFF® Original Multifunctional Headwear;
- From Julbo: The winner’s choice of a pair of sunglasses;
- From Altra: A waterproof Wasatch Jacket; and
- From GU: 12-serving Summit Tea ROCTANE Energy Drink Mix and a 6-pack Hoppy Trails Energy Gel;
- From Squirrel’s Nut Butter: A prize pack from Squirrel’s Nut Butter, including a stick of their all-natural anti-chafe salve.
You’ll also get fame. As proof, we once again recognize last year’s winners, as they bested more than 1,600 other entrants. Nice work, folks! 1st: Taylor McPherson, 2nd: Grant Acosta, 3rd: Aaron Lighter. For those who are interested, here are the results of last year’s contest as well as the ‘group-think’ predictions the contest entries provided before the race.
Random Prize
This year, we’re awarding one random grand prize to one lucky entrant who gives the contest an honest attempt. The random winner will receive the same prize pack as the first-place merit winner (except the art)! Here’s what they receive:
Random Grand Prize Winner
- From Drymax: 6 pairs of socks of the winner’s choosing;
- From Hoka One One: A pair of Hoka trail running shoes of the winner’s choice;
- From Buff®: An iRunFar BUFF® Original Multifunctional Headwear;
- From Julbo: The winner’s choice of a pair of sunglasses;
- From Altra: A waterproof Wasatch Jacket; and
- From GU: 24-serving Summit Tea ROCTANE Energy Drink Mix, 24-pack Hoppy Trails Energy Gel, and 10-pack box of ROCTANE Protein Recovery Drink Mix; and
- From Squirrel’s Nut Butter: A prize pack from Squirrel’s Nut Butter, including a stick of their all-natural anti-chafe salve.
The Contest
You may want to check out our regularly updated men’s and women’s previews before you make your picks. Make sure your favorites are actually running!
[This year’s Western States prediction contest is now closed.]
*The Details
Only one entry per person. If you enter early and wish to change your picks before the deadline, you may replace those picks–please just use the exact same name and email address on subsequent entries. We suppose you don’t need to make all 18 picks, but be aware that a non-pick will be treated the same as a DNF. You can only choose a runner once per gender, but you can pick someone like Jeff Browning to place overall and win the men’s masters category. No hedging bets, finding loopholes, or other funny business; we reserve the right to invalidate any entry that doesn’t follow in the spirit of fairness.
The Hints
Here at iRunFar, we’ve published our women’s and men’s previews and will be publishing a slew of interviews in the coming week. We update the previews whenever we receive new information about athletes. (In other words, stay tuned!) However, you’ve got to do the reading on your own… we’d recommend it as some top entrants usually end up missing the race.
The Closing
If you want to talk through your ideas before making picks, go for it. For those wishing to go public on their predictions, please leave some or all of your picks in a comment after making your official selections. Go ahead, put your mouth where your mind is!
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[Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Mitchell Goodman for building the backbone for our prediction contests a decade ago and to Andy Clink for brining the contest’s programming up to date. Also, props to the VHTRC Bull Run Run Pick-the-Winner contests of long ago. My enjoyment of those contests gave rise to this contest.]
