The 2025 Cuyamaca 100K: Eight Years On
The annual practice of securing a western states qualifier is not easy in New Mexico. The nearest race to us is Black Canyon, about a 6.5 hour drive. I’ve done it a few times, but it’s almost just as easy to fly somewhere. This year, I chose to return to the Cuyamaca 100k in the San Diego area. This was my seventh qualifying race since running Western States itself in 2018. It was my first Western States qualifier in 2017 -- a race that led to my improbable selection for the 2018 Western States 100 when I was just 20 years old. I chose this race because it’s familiar; I like the course, and it’s a qualifier that is not too difficult, relatively speaking. The race has 8,500 feet of climbing over 100k. It is quite hot some years, but this was not one of them. We were lucky to have a high temperature in the 70s. At the beginning of the race it was actually quite cold. I regretted not having gloves in the first few miles, but it was eventually comfortable. I ran the first 8 mi...