For the fourth year in a row, Hayden Hawks is a men’s favorite at the 2024 Western States 100. In the following interview, Hayden talks about recovering from the injury that forced him to drop from this race last year, how he feels healthy and fresh after a long break from the sport, and by how much he thinks he can improve upon his second-place finish in 2022.
To learn more about who’s racing, check out our men’s and women’s previews and follow our live race coverage on race day.
Hayden Hawks Pre-2024 Western States 100 Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Hayden Hawks before the 2024 Western States 100. How are you, Hayden?
Hayden Hawks: Yeah, doing good. I arrived last night. Just excited to be back in the Valley. Special place. I’m really happy to be back after a long year of fighting injury and whatnot, and really excited to go this weekend.
iRunFar: Right on. So, this is your fourth straight year here. What brings you back?
Hawks: Yes, it’s a special race. I think the cool thing about Western States, and I was sharing this with my wife yesterday, is my family and friends can be involved in this race, which is so cool. I race all over the world. I race in Asia, Europe, and I can’t expect my family to fly out to Europe to be there for me and crew me.
iRunFar: Yeah.
Hawks: But here, it’s really cool because I can have them here. You know, and I can be in a really competitive, really big event, have my family and friends, have my community around me. Western States is special in that way for me. It’s a race that has really motivated me over the years and I’m just really excited to be back here.
iRunFar: Yeah, so what part of your family and friends are here for the week?
Hawks: My wife’s here to crew me. Got a lot of friends from Cedar City, St. George area that are coming out to help crew and pace. My parents are coming out for the first time.
iRunFar: No way. That’s so fun.
Hawks: Yeah, they rented a motorhome and they’re actually driving out right now. They’re really excited to come watch Western States. They’ve never been here before. There’s a lot of just people that I really love that are going to be out this year. It’s really, really going to be cool.
iRunFar: Right on. Well, last year you were here and unfortunately, didn’t finish. So, what happened?
Hawks: Yeah. I had a pretty bad knee injury. I had the knee injury pop up beforehand, and then in the race, I took a pretty bad fall in the high country, smacked my knee on a rock, and ended up fracturing my knee, and ended up having to actually get surgery to remove a fractured bone spur that was in my knee. And it ended up being a blessing in disguise because that knee had been giving me issues off and on over the years. And now it’s pretty cleared up.
iRunFar: Spurred you to actually take action on it, where it was easy to fight through it for a long time.
Hawks: Yeah, exactly. I fought it for so long and really just pushed it off because I could manage it. But now that I’m healthy, now that I’m actually feeling good and my knee’s not giving me issues, I realized how much of a burden it was dealing with that. And I feel really strong going into this year and not having to worry about my knee like last year. It’s been a recovery process. It’s definitely not been easy, but I’m back and ready to go.
iRunFar: When was the last time you’d taken a significant break from real training?
Hawks: It was a while. Yeah. I don’t remember.
iRunFar: Do you think there could be anything to that? Because you’ve been going, going, going for how many, like a decade plus.
Hawks: Yeah, I started running when I was like 15 years old, and I don’t think I took a significant break since then. I think it was a benefit because, I mean, we saw it at Black Canyon, what I was able to do. They’re coming into a race fresh, healthy, excited. And it’s the same mindset and attitude I have coming into Western States because I’ve raced one time in the last 12 months. And that was Black Canyon. And so I’m just really excited to be racing again because I love racing. And this is the best race to be able to do.
iRunFar: Totally. And like you said, you maybe have more motivation now. You can’t take it for granted. You couldn’t race for a while.
Hawks: Yeah, exactly. I love this sport so much. I love being able to do this. I love being a professional athlete. And when that’s taken away from you, it becomes really difficult and really hard to be able to deal with it. But you also get this, I guess gratefulness when you get to come back. It makes you more excited, makes you more happy. And it gives you a different perspective of what really matters, and what’s the most important thing about doing this sport. And I think my mindset’s changed a lot and I’m just really grateful and excited to be back.
iRunFar: Tell me a little bit about your course record run at Black Canyon back in spring or late winter.
Hawks: Yeah, it went really well. I wasn’t expecting that, to be honest with you. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be doing the race eight to ten weeks beforehand. I was able to get an eight- to ten-week training block in and busted out a good performance there. I’ve always had confidence, but I think maybe sometimes it’s been too much confidence, which has led to a bit of overtraining, different things like that. I’ve always thought that I have to push, push, push the boundaries even more every year. And now I’m realizing that that’s not the case. It’s way more important to go into races fresh and healthy, and do just enough and sometimes be maybe a bit undertrained. And that’s what I feel like I’ve done this year. I’ve only had an eight- to ten-week training block coming into Western States, but I feel like it’s been perfect. Like, spot on with what I need to do.
iRunFar: Aside from being a little shorter than in the past, did you do any less volume or less intensity? What changed in your lead up?
Hawks: I just listened to my coach, to be honest with you. In the past, I think it was always trying to add mileage here and there, or add a workout, or maybe pushing my workouts a little too hard. I come from a track and field background where when we were running on the university team, it was just hard every day. You were hammering workouts just trying to prove that you should be on the team. Different things like that. And the workouts were way too hard. And now I’m realizing that I don’t need to do workouts as hard. My volume can be a bit lower, and I’ve found that sweet spot. So yes, my volume has been a little bit lower. My workouts have been a little bit less intense. It’s just the training has been a lot more specific to what I’m going to need for something like Western States.
iRunFar: Right on. So, you finished second here. You think you can give a good shot at the win here on Saturday?
Hawks: Yeah. I don’t see why not.
iRunFar: Right on.
Hawks: I do think I can win this race. I think I’m capable of running under 15 hours. I know I’m capable of running under 15 hours.
iRunFar: Which it probably will take this weekend.
Hawks: Yeah.
iRunFar: It’s looking like reasonably good weather.
Hawks: All I can do is control what I can control. And I know what I can do on this course. And if that’s good enough to win, then great. If not, I did what I could do, and that’s what matters to me. What really matters to me is I’m back, and I have this chance, this opportunity, to run this race again. So I’m going to give it everything I have, and do what my body allows me to do. And whatever that means is what it means on race day.
iRunFar: Having been on the start line the previous three years, you know the men’s field really well. Who are those couple other guys that are going to have the best chance of being up there to challenge you for the win?
Hawks: I would say of course, Jim [Walmsley]. Jim’s the course-record holder and three-time winner. I really respect Jim, and I know it’s tough to beat Jim. I tried doing it a couple of years ago and it blew up in my face. I think I have a little bit better idea how to race him this year, which could be good. Dan Jones, who I’ve been training with. He’s my training partner out in Utah, and I’ve trained a lot with him and down in New Zealand as well. He’s fast. He’s very fit right now. I think he’s a bit underrated, to be honest with you. I mean, he took fifth last year, so he is really good. And I have seen what he’s capable of. So definitely watch out for Dan. I think he’s got a good chance here.
There’s a lot of guys. I mean, Jon Albon is really strong. Petter Engdahl is really good. I’m just excited for the men’s field. I know Jia-Sheng Shen has been doing a lot of training out on the course here. And he’s really fit right now as well. I’m really excited to mix it up with all these guys. Tyler Green. You can never forget Tyler Green.
iRunFar: We didn’t even get to Tyler Green yet.
Hawks: Tyler Green, he always is there. And he’s one of the guys I fear the most, especially toward the end of the race. That being said, I’m just focused on me, and what I can do, and running my own race. And I think if I do that, I can mix it up with any guys, and I can beat anybody in the field. So it should be a fun race and hopefully we can put on a show for everybody.
iRunFar: Right on. Best of luck out there, Hayden. Run well.
Hawks: Thank you. Yeah. Take care.
