After taking second at least year’s Western States 100, Katie Schide is the top women’s returnee for this year’s race. In the following interview, Katie talks about using Ellie Greenwood’s course record as motivation late in last year’s race, where she thinks she can improve on that performance, and what it’s been like spending her longest stretch back in the U.S. in eight years.
To learn more about who’s racing, check out our women’s and men’s previews and follow our live race coverage on race day.
Katie Schide Pre-2024 Western States 100 Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar, here with Katie Schide before the 2024 Western States 100. How are you, Katie?
Katie Schide: I’m good. I’m really excited that this is, I think, our first interview together.
iRunFar: Is that possible?
Schide: I think so.
iRunFar: You’ve avoided me all these years?
Schide: I’ve been waiting for years.
iRunFar: All right. Well, since I wasn’t at Western States last year, you had an incredible run. You finished second, you ran faster than any woman had before, other than Courtney [Dauwalter] couple minutes earlier. What’s your favorite memory from that race or that whole experience?
Schide: I’m not sure if it’s a favorite memory, but one that really sticks with me is just that last few kilometers when I really didn’t know if I was going to be able to go under Ellie [Greenwood]’s record, but was just holding onto it so tightly as what was pulling me to the track. And just being in that kind of zombie out of body experience. Like you just got to go for this. And it’s funny because it wasn’t even for a win or for a certain position. I was going to be second and I knew it. But I just wanted something to go for.
iRunFar: So Ellie’s ghost was right there.
Schide: Yeah. It was.
iRunFar: Were you scared? Were you excited? Because you could have run a super fast time, which you did. What were the emotions?
Schide: I think at that point, I needed something to pull me to the end, because I was in this comfortable position. Courtney was well ahead. I had some space behind. I had been struggling a lot in those last 30k and I just needed something to get me to the end. And yeah, so it was Ellie’s ghost that got me there.
iRunFar: Yeah. Awesome. So you had a really good run, but it apparently didn’t go perfectly or there was trouble or problems. What can you do better or is there anything you can do better, coming back this year?
Schide: Yeah, that’s the curse. We’re never satisfied. That’s why we keep coming back. I was pretty satisfied last year, but of course-
iRunFar: As well, you should be.
Schide: Of course, there’s always things where you’re like, “Oh, what if I had done that differently?” Or even just the thought of, “Okay, now I have one year. What could I do building off of that, using that as a stepping stone?” So I’m not sure there’s some top secret thing I’m going to do differently.
But it’s definitely just having … Even just arriving here, knowing where things are, knowing how it’s going to play out, just being a returner, I think you get a little bit more of that calm. Last year, I was trying to figure out where to take certain things. And now I know. It’s not that I know everything, but I have a better plan in my head or a better sense of what’s to come.
iRunFar: And more comfort with that because you-
Schide: Exactly.
iRunFar: Know that it more or less worked last year.
Schide: Yeah.
iRunFar: And building on training, did you change anything up in training heading into this year’s race? Or is it just cumulative effect over years that you’re thinking about?
Schide: I would say from the race through the winter, it was the same, if not less running than last year. Just because, yeah, coming … We go back pretty far. I had this feeling coming into last year’s race that I am not one of those people coming from a really strong road or track background. So getting that more traditional running, less hiking under me, was my main concern going into last year’s race. And I think just how the race played out, how everything played out, I walked away feeling more confident that it’s something I don’t need to overly emphasize. So this past winter, I wasn’t running quite as much as the winter before. This spring, we definitely brought the volume up a bit. And I did Canyons [100k], which was different. Last year, I did Ecotrail Paris, which was in March. So I actually started running earlier last year. This year, I started a little bit later, but with a little bit more volume.
iRunFar: Yeah. And Ecotrail Paris, for those aren’t familiar, it’s a fast 50 mile.
Schide: It’s like the French JFK.
iRunFar: Yeah, it’s like six hours.
Schide: Yeah. 6:20, something like that. Yeah.
iRunFar: Blazing fast. It’s over. Of course, Canyons 100k is a bit more of a longer effort.
Schide: Yeah, it’s two and a half hours longer.
iRunFar: Yeah. And you had a really good race there. How did that feel? How do you think it went?
Schide: Yeah, I was really happy with it. It was just cool to be on the course again and have those memories of Western States 2023 in the background and have my family around and have the Gaylords for crewing me around. And it was just satisfying to see the spring training play out in an early season race, and then just jump right off that into Flagstaff and getting into more Western States training.
iRunFar: So you’ve been here in the States for a while now.
Schide: Two and a half months.
iRunFar: Is that the longest you’ve been here in quite a while?
Schide: In eight years.
iRunFar: Wow.
Schide: Yeah.
iRunFar: So how has the time in the States gone? You’ve been at Flagstaff since Canyons.
Schide: Yeah, it’s been hard to be away from the place I love in the French Alps. And also of course, Germain [Grangier, her partner], he wasn’t able to come. So that’s been a struggle. Not like a struggle, but it’s a choice we made and we’re able to deal with that until I see him in one week.
iRunFar: Excellent.
Schide: So honestly, the last couple weeks, I’ve just been … I know that there was the race on the calendar. But it was almost like, “Okay, I’m going to be home in three weeks. Okay, I’m going to be home in two weeks. Now, I’m home in one week.” So just have a little run to do in between.
iRunFar: Little one.
Schide: But really looking forward to getting back. It’s been awesome being here.
iRunFar: How did the running in Flagstaff go? You were there presumably to train and get some heat in and fast running?
Schide: Yeah, it’s really fun to come back to the U.S. and I think I don’t realize how long I’ve been gone until those first few days when I get back. And I’m like, “Oh, yeah. These are things you can do in the United States.” Go grocery shopping at 9:00 p.m. on Sunday and order things on Amazon in two days and go speak English to everyone. Have more friends around. Those little things are pretty fun to have for a few months. So yeah, I’ve enjoyed my time, but obviously looking forward to getting home too.
iRunFar: Right on. Well, hopefully you got all you wanted out of this two and a half months. And best of luck this weekend.
Schide: Thank you.
iRunFar: Thank you.
