Western States 100 Run at Blazing Speed - Kilian Jornet Takes Third

Originally posted on Outdoors on SI | By John Waechter | Last updated Jun 29, 2025 3:00 PM ET

Elite mountaineer and champion ultrarunner, Kilian Jornet, returned to the extreme Western States 100 this year for the first time since 2011, when he won the race with a time of 15:34:24. The race, which began yesterday and finished this morning, was staged at blistering speed. Jornet took third place with a time of 14:19:22, a mere eight minutes behind the champion Caleb Olson from Utah.

Olson recorded the second fastest time in race history (14:11:25), while Chris Myers from Colorado placed second with a time of 14:17:39 – just seconds ahead of Jornet. These times are blazing fast and a testament to the training and preparation these athletes put into ultra events. As reported by Runner's World, Jornet commented on the speed of the race, which accelerated from the start.

“Those guys started off so fast, I thought, ‘Oh, gosh, it’s going to be a hard day,’” Jornet said. “I don’t know why they need to run so fast. Why not just enjoy the mountains?”

Kilian Jornet Makes Epic Return to the Western States 100 - Takes Third

For Jornet, a love for the mountains comes first, but his competitive nature will always keep him in the hunt at the world’s greatest ultra running races. Jornet first ran the Western States 100 at age 22 in 2010, when he finished third. That race was the basis for the

“Yesterday I got a message from Geoff Roes, and that was amazing,” Jornet said on Saturday. “This sport has grown since then, but it’s the same. There are a lot more people here today in the stadium than there were back [in 2011], and the race has grown and it’s more competitive, but it’s the same spirit. We might prepare better now, but we have the same love of running in the mountains.”

The iconic Western States 100 began in 1977. The inaugural race featured 14 men, while the 2025 race included 369 competitors in a limited field. The historic and brutal endurance challenge is the world's oldest 100-mile ultra race. The race begins in Olympic Valley, California, and rises high into the Sierra Nevada mountain range, covering 100.2 miles with an elevation gain of 17,717 feet, and culminates in Auburn, California.

“Those guys started off so fast, I thought, ‘Oh, gosh, it’s going to be a hard day,’” Jornet said. “I don’t know why they need to run so fast. Why not just enjoy the mountains?”

Jornet first ran the Western States 100 at the age of 22 in 2010, when he finished third in an epic battle with Alaska’s Geoff Roes and Colorado’s Anton Krupicka, which served as the basis for the 2011 documentary "Unbreakable."

Killian Jornet, an elite Spanish ski mountaineer and ultrarunner, has set many speed records in the mountains and ultrarunning races. Jornet holds the fastest known time speed record for the ascent and descent of the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc. He owns the 24-hour uphill skiing record by climbing 78,274 feet.

Killian set the world record for climbing all 82 4,000-meter peaks in the Alps in 19 days. His ultra-running accomplishments include winning the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc multiple times, the Grand Raid, Western States 100, and Hardrock 100.

This article first appeared on Outdoors on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: