From a Colombian Orphanage to Western States
Jenn Lichter's first 100 miler was the hardest one to pick. She went in wanting to win.
On 27 June, Jenn Lichter started her first 100 mile race. Most people choose something forgiving for that. She chose Western States, the oldest and most prestigious 100 miler in the world, and she did not go there to survive it.
The course runs across the Sierra Nevada from Olympic Valley to Auburn: 18,000 feet of climbing, daytime temperatures that flirt with triple digits, a field that comes from everywhere. Lichter's route to that start line began in a Colombian orphanage, and the Guardian traces what the distance between those two places actually built.
"Hardships never last."
She said she wanted to win. That is the whole quote worth keeping.