These Canadians are headed to Western States 100 in 2026
The WSER draw smiled on a small but mighty group of Canadian trail runners
COROS
Ultrarunners worldwide tuned in to the lottery draw this Saturday, which determined who would be running in the 2026 edition of the legendary Western States Endurance Run (WSER). Here are the lucky Canadians who were selected to run in the storied 100-miler. They put in the work to earn a lottery ticket (or several hundred, as your WSER ticket increases exponentially by 2^[n-1] with n equalling the number of years you have entered the lottery unsuccessfully), and their names were selected out of the more than 11,328 lottery entrants.
Western States 100
The 2025 WSER lottery for North America’s oldest 100-mile trail race was held at Placer High School in Auburn, Calif., near the race’s finish line. To be on the start line of WSER in 2026, runners must either complete a qualifying race and have their name drawn in the lottery, be a top-10 finisher the previous year, earn a Golden Ticket by taking a top spot in one of six races, or gain entry through a sponsor. The entrants to this year’s lottery had a combined total of 93,003 tickets, and 257 names were drawn on Saturday (with 75 added to a waitlist).
The 2026 edition of WSER will begin on June 27.
Accepted
Wing Taylor North Vancouver, B.C.
Antonio Lee Shanty Bay, Ont.
Jason Wright North Cowichan, B.C.
Andy Reed Canmore, Alta.
Ryan Lakhram Calgary
Christopher Aubrey Edmonton
Adam Koppany Kingston, Ont.
Christian Stenner Calgary
Myron Tetrault Calgary
Chris Michelau St. John’s, Nfld.
Martin Coulombe Ottawa
Waitlist
Graham Glennie St. Albert, Alta.
Marc Gallant Rothesay, N.B.
Dreaming of running WSER?
If you’re a Canadian hoping to see your name in a future WSER draw, the first step is finishing one of the approved qualifying races during the lottery window. These events meet WSER’s distance, cutoff and field-size standards, and a finish at the required distance puts you into the next year’s lottery. Here are the Canadian qualifiers currently on the list for the 2027 race:
Canadian Death Race — 118 km (24 hours)
Fat Dog 120 — 120 miles (48 hours), 100 km (22 hours)
Lost Soul Ultra — 100 miles (33 hours), 100 km (21 hours)
Quebec Mega Trail — 135 km (32 hours)
Sulphur Springs Trail Race — 100 miles (30 hours), 100 km (18 hours)
Ultra Trail Harricana — 125 km (26 hours)
Whistler by UTMB — 100 km (24 hours)
For the full list of names drawn in Saturday’s lottery, head here. For the full list of qualifying races, head here.
