GetRaceTwin / Race course guides / Western States 100

Find a Local Route That Simulates the Western States 100

Olympic Valley, CA

GetRaceTwin analyzes the Western States 100’s elevation, climbs, descents and overall course rhythm, then searches your local area for runnable routes with similar terrain -- so your training run rehearses the actual race, not just the distance.

About the race course

High Sierra · canyon descents · extreme vert. The Western States 100 moves through 7 distinct sections, each with its own terrain demands, from squaw valley climb to auburn finish.

Elevation and terrain characteristics

Course data below is sourced from the race organizer’s own published course description, not estimated. Each section is shown with its grade -- positive for climbing, negative for descending.

1. 01Squaw Valley climb+5.5%
2. 02High country crossing+0.3%
3. 03Canyon descent-3.5%
4. 04El Dorado Canyon climb+2.5%
5. 05Devil's Thumb climb+4.0%
6. 06American River crossing-1.0%
7. 07Auburn finish-1.5%

Course data via WSER course description.

Major climbs and descents

Western States opens with a massive climb out of Olympic Valley to Emigrant Pass, then trends downhill through Sierra high country into a punishing sequence of canyon climbs and descents, including the famous Devil's Thumb. Training should front-load a long climb, then rehearse repeated steep canyon-style climbs and descents under fatigue.

What runners should replicate during training

A useful Western States 100 training route doesn’t need to match its distance -- it needs to reproduce the order and intensity of its climbs and descents. Match the course’s terrain rhythm above rather than picking any local hill at random.

How GetRaceTwin finds a local match

GetRaceTwin’s automatic route matching today searches roads and sidewalks, not trails -- so it can find a local route that rehearses Western States 100’s climbs and descents, but not one that reproduces its actual trail surface. Trail-specific matching is on our roadmap; until then, use the course breakdown above to guide your own trail training.