The 1978 Western States 100

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By Davy Crockett

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The 1978 Western States 100 was the second year the race was held. Six years earlier, seven soldiers from Fort Riley Kansas proved that the horse trail could be conquered on foot, and they were awarded with the “First Finishers on Foot” trophy by Western States founder, Wendell Robie (1895-1984). Two years later, in 1974, Gordy Ainsleigh surprised his horse endurance peers when he ran the 89-mile Western States Trail in less than 24 hours.

Three years later, in 1977, Robie decided it was time to organize a foot race on his trail. The inaugural race was hastily put together by a few volunteers who had horse endurance race experience but did not have much experience with human running races (see episode 71). The first race was mostly self-supported and fairly dangerous in very high temperatures. They were lucky that there were no serious heat-related emergencies, and only three of the 16 starters finished.

Planning for the 1978 Western States 100 Run became more serious and was much better organized. The 1978 race should be considered as the first fully supported Western States Endurance Run which gave all entrants a good chance to finish.

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Gang of Four – Curt and Mo Sproul, Phil and Shannon Gardner

A Western States Endurance Run Board of Governors was formally organized by race founder, Wendall Robie. The four members, affectionately called “The Gang of Four,” were all horse endurance riders, still learning what ultrarunning was all about. They were Phillip (1944-) and Shannon Gardner (1947-), and Curtis (1949-) and Marion “Mo” Sproul (1952-). Curt served as the president. Even though they still had much to learn about the running sport, they blazed ahead into history to put together a mountain ultra that many other key ultras would mimic. Joe Sloan, age 44, an experienced runner and public relations specialist from Auburn who ran in the Boston Marathon that year claimed that he was also on the new Board of Governors that year.

Gardner’s Western States office at the bank

Because of difficulties experienced in 1977 with both runners and horses on the same trail, especially with single-track sections, the run was moved to the month before the Tevis Cup (Western States Trail Ride), on June 24, 1978. Shannon Gardner worked at Robie’s bank, Heart Federal Savings and Loan, made contacts to get the word out, and fielded calls from interested runners.

Marketing Western States 100

Marketing for the Run was mostly by word-of-mouth, but in a 1978 Runner’s World magazine, an advertisement was included that read: “Western States 100-mile Endurance Run. An experience only for ultramarathon veterans. Course: rugged, uncertified over mountains, through streams, with snakes and bears. All entries must pass physical exam. No one under 18. 30-hour time limit.” The entrant’s fee was $10. Mo Sproul explained, “We did try to make our publications as top-drawer as they could be, so that we presented an organized face to the outside world, even though a lot of it was being done in my kitchen or at Shannon’s desk.”

The 1978 entry form warned, “Do not enter unless in excellent physical condition, have run marathon distances over 26 miles, and have had a complete physical examination, preferably including a stress electrocardiogram.”

The race organizers started to prop up the legend of Gordy Ainsleigh and numerous news articles erroneously stated that he was the first to cover the course on foot. They purposely decided to make no mention of the soldiers from Fort Riley, Kansas who completed the course on foot during the Tevis Cup in 1972 and were given the “First Finisher on Foot” trophy from Wendell Robie. Instead Ainsleigh, one of their own, would be given all the credit as being the first finisher.

The 1978 Western States marketing hype also stated that the race was the toughest endurance race in the country (which it probably was that year), but also misled the naïve California news media that running 100-milers was something new and that the race invented the idea. They were unaware of the more than 1,000 other runners throughout the world who had finished 100 miles in less than 24 hours in previous years on other courses, track, road, and trail. The goal of the marketing attention was to gain qualified entrants and to make Auburn, California the “endurance capital of the world.”

Planning for the Race

The 1978 race included some performance rules. Without an understanding of the existing cooperative culture in ultrarunning, one rule was: “At all times, participants must refrain from any act of bad sportsmanship, including failure to let an overtaking contestant pass.” The race staff tried hard to be well-prepared but admitted that it was still “thrown together” with the hope that it would succeed that year. They still had not made any attempts to measure the course, just trusting that it was about 100 miles. It was far from that distance. The 1977-79 course stood at 89 miles.

For the previous race in 1977, there were no formal aid stations, but for 1978, at least 12 aid stations were set up, including six medical checkpoints! Phil Gardner, on the Run board, was an engineer. He knew the trail very well, handled all the logistics, and figured out where all the aid stations should be. The aid station volunteers were mostly all endurance riders, lacking any experience with ultrarunning, but brought to the race valuable experience with enduring outdoor elements. At most of the aid stations they only served water, cookies, and fruit. The in-town stations also stocked ERG, an electrolyte-replacement and glucose drink.

Mo Sproul and Shannon Gardner served as co-race directors. They became collectively known as “Mo-Shan.” Years later, John Trent (1963-) who became the run board’s president said of Mo, “Without her presence, along with a couple of other people at a key juncture in the late 1970s, Western States wouldn’t exist. So much of who we are, especially the spirit, and how we try to find common ground as a board, has to do with Mo.”

Mo got involved with the run during the previous year, 1977. She explained, “Wendell Robie called and said, ‘Would you please come be a timer for these runners who are running with the horses?’ I said, ‘No, it’s too hot, I’m not driving around after a bunch of runners.’ Finally, I broke down and said yes. So, we shot the gun off at the start, and then I followed all the way along with Bob Lind, our doctor, who was looking after the runners and trying to keep track of medical data. I became completely fascinated by what the runners ate, what they were trying to do and how their weight changed. That’s when I got really hooked on what it meant to run through those mountains in those conditions.”

The overall cutoff time for the race was increased from 24 hours to 30 hours. The race board felt that only extraordinary young athletes could finish in under 24 hours. Mo Sproul suggested that they make the cutoff 30 hours, and everyone agreed. Thus the 30-hour finish standard was established that would be used for many ultras. A silver belt buckle with the figure of Hermes, messenger of the gods etched on it was awarded to those who finished within 24 hours. Those under 30 hours received a wooden plaque.

Medical checks were again supervised by Dr. Bob Lind who was still learning about ultrarunners. Runners were told if they lost 10% of their weight they would be removed from the race. The finish line that year was at the Placer High School Track because the fair was being held at the fairgrounds. The weather for the 1978 race was mild, but there was significant deep snow in the high country to run over, fifteen miles of it.

The Runners

There were 63 starters, including five women. The California media highlighted some of these runners before the race.

Dan Hounchell (1957-), age 21, was from Roseville, California. He had run in the Boston Marathon. Hounchell said, “I’ve been wondering about my sanity each morning, it’s the first thing that I think about. I keep thinking of ways I can get out of it. I’d like to go under the 30-hour mark. I have no idea how I’m going to do because you can’t pace yourself like a marathon because the terrain varies too much.” He said he would start slowly and then slow down even more. (Hounchell dropped out at mile 50 with knee problems but finished in 1979 with 21:43).

Jeff Nakama (1955-), 23, from Maui, Hawaii, was in the field. He was a dietetic and physical education student at Chico State University in California. He trained by running up and down the stairs in the college dorms, 101 times in a day. He had a unique talent of being able to walk on his hands for more than a mile and he hoped to one day set the world record. But that wouldn’t help him much at Western States and he only started training a few weeks after school was let out in May.

Walt Stack (1908-1995), age 70, was a legendary runner from San Francisco. “The odds are the mountain range will beat him. Stack, who runs three hours, bicycles 1 ½ hours and swims a half hour daily, is confident he can make the grueling run from Squaw Valley.” Stack had been doing some training on the trails. He said, “It is the running at night and maybe rattlesnakes that will bother me. The last time I was on the trail I saw two. I will be so bleeping tired you better genuflect when you pass me at the finish line.”

Bob Suter (1941-), 38, of Meadow Vista, California, near Auburn, had played rugby and basketball in college. But around 1970, he had been tied to an office job and was overweight. He took up jogging on a tiny indoor track in San Francisco and then started to run some of the Bay Area races and ran in two marathons. He became known as “Ranger Bob.” He decided to sign up for Western States. When asked why, He replied, “For the competitiveness and the physical challenge.” He had been working hard since February, doing weekend runs of up to 60 miles on the Western States Trail, at times with Ainsleigh. Suter was known for always being hungry on his run and wore a cap full of raisins, granola bars and other foods. Aisleigh said, “I complain about dehydration, normal runner’s complaints. He’s only got one; ‘I’m hungry.’”

Pat Smythe (1943-) and Mary Healy of Napa, California, were co-leaders of “Women on the Run” based out of Kentfield, California. Smythe grew up in Vancouver, Washinton and started to run recreationally in college to lose weight. She said, “I wasn’t in it for competition. My running was something that was really personal.” While working as a secretary for a school district, she met Healy who had organized “Women on the Run” to teach the basics of running to women in the San Francisco Bay area. Together they taught classes.

Healy had experience running marathons and told Smythe about Western States. They did not know that many women had previously run 100 miles in ultras, but wanted to make a statement and said, “We believe that women can go the distance. Women have been running marathons for years.” Smythe and Healy started serious training five weeks before the race, going from 30 miles per week to 100 miles. Smythe was determined to finish. She recalled, “Mentally, I knew I was tough, and prior to the race, I believed that it was ultimately going to be this toughness, more than physical conditioning that was going to make or break it for me.”

Two eighteen-year-old twins were also among the starters, Karin and Peggy Stok (1960-), of Redwood City, California. They both had good experience running in 50-mile road races.

Ken “Cowman” Shirk (1944-), age 34, originally a farm boy from Salinas, California, had signed up to run again. He had accomplished a solo run on the Western States Trail in 1976 in 24:20, but DNFed the official 1977 race at about mile 48.

Gordy Ainsleigh (1947-), age 31, the emerging marketing icon of Western States was entered, looking for his first official ultra finish. He had been the eighth person to cover the Western States Trail on foot during the Tevis cup, the first to do in less than 24 hours. He admitted that he was not in his best physical condition for the 1978 race because he had not trained very much and said, “It takes three months of hard running to be in shape.”

Doug Latimer (1938-), age 40, from Redwood City, California, was a vice president and general manager for Runner’s World Magazine. He had a best marathon time of 2:38. He had been training only about 45 miles per week and this would be his first ultra. (He would later succeed Curt Sproul as the president of Western States Board of Trustees and be the first ten-time finisher of Western States).

Doug Latimer and Andy Gonzales at Western States

He explained how he got into the race. “I had just moved out from New York. Our marketing director was a wonderful character named Phil Lenihan. He was also a runner. I was sitting in my office one day and heard running footsteps coming down the corridor, shouting, “Doug, Doug.” It was Phil. He had just been in the back room with the editorial staff, and he had proofs of the next issue of Runner’s World. He said, “Doug, look at this!” He showed me a spread of Redstar Ridge with two horses and two runners on it from the 1977 Western States Run. Phil said, “Doug, we’ve got to do this!.” I had to admit that it looked really exciting, but I questioned, “100 miles in the Sierras?” I didn’t think anything more about it. Two weeks later Phil came running down to my office and said, “Doug, I entered us both.”

Jim Howard (1955-), age 23, of Applegate, California, was a very experienced runner who was a cross country champion at Elk Grove High School. He ran his first marathon in high school with a time of 2:32. He went on to set course records in college at Cosumnes River and Sacramento State. On April 2, 1978, won the PA-AAU 50 km race held at Davis California. His time was 3:05:41 which was the 5^th fastest 50 km run in the country that year. He graduated from college in 1978 and was interested in taking his speed to the mountain trails of the Sierra. He clearly had the greatest running speed among the field and believed he could win Western States.

Andy Gonzales (1955-), age 23, of Colfax, California, was the defending Western States champion. He had discovered his love for running in 1974, while serving in the Navy in Italy. On a whim, he joined in to run the 1977 Western States Run and came away with the win. He knew the course better than anyone. He had been training extremely hard in the mountains and wanted to win again. He was concerned about the impact of the trail as it was being publicized more. He said, “The people from the city are changing the run. It’s almost like they want to pave the trail.”

The Start

Gonzales and Howard climbing out of Squaw Valley on the snow

Gonzales and Howard took the early lead. They climbed up and over the snow above Squaw Valley together. Later, Howard pushed on ahead. Gonzales was dressed very skimpy. He took a pair of running shorts and cut off the outer layer looking like he ran in a speedo. He had neglected to bring his best running shoe and the tread was worn on his shoes, so Shannon Gardner gave him her shoes to run in which were the same size.

Tony Stratta (1930-2013), a Navy veteran, came from San Francisco and arrived late. Because he didn’t have anyone to take his sweater and flight bag with his dress shoes to the finish, he carried the bag thirty miles to Robinson Flat.

The first aid station was at Red Star Ridge in deep snow. Wendell Robie was there wearing hip boots with a snowmobile and a bucket of water with a ladle that all runners shared.

Near Michigan Bluff, Gonzales caught up to Howard who was laying by the side of the trail suffering. Gonzales offered help, but Howard declined, was surprised and bit in awe of Gonzales’ ability to catch up to him. They later ran together for a while, building up a huge lead, but both got lost during the night for a significant amount of time. The trail was still poorly marked in places

Andy Gonzales at Michigan Bluff being weighed by Dr. Lind

It was reported, “The trail went through snow, dirt, shale, loose rocks and the talcum powder Sierra dust that choked runners. They carried flashlights at night and forged the knee-high American River at dawn when the current was strong and the water cold.” Some of the runners were paced by horseback riders.

“There were dozens of volunteers assisting at the checkpoint. Work on the race crew meant long hours, often beginning or ending in the middle of the night for most of the volunteers.

The two women, Smythe and Healy ran together with Phil Lenihan (1935-), of San Jose, California, a marketing manager at Runner’s World. He had finished the Boston Marathon in 3:12 and believed by running with the women that he could finish. They worked hard at keeping up a consistent pace and stopped less often than they had planned. Healy said, “We learned a lot about ourselves.” Figuring out the right clothing to wear was a challenge. Smythe started off wearing a wool sweater, but perspiration quickly made that heavy. She said, “The funny thing was we didn’t get tired, the fatigue never hit me.”

Healy dropped out at Robinson Flat (mile 30) due to altitude sickness. Smythe and Lenihan ran on but had slowed to a pace that aid station volunteers thought would not allow them to make it to Auburn in time. Lenihan, confident, replied, “Radio ahead and have our plaques ready for us.” As Smythe ran along, an old miner on the course approached her and said, “I’ve heard about you. I’ve got something for you.” He then gave her a little gold nugget. Smythe planned to make it into a pendant.

The mild temperatures that year really helped the runners. Lind said, “We were pretty lucky. We didn’t have any serious mishaps during the run. I really had a lot of fears about taking this one on. It was so enticing though, I couldn’t pass it by. These are some of the nicest people I’ve ever been associated with in an athletic event, they can’t do enough for you. There is a great deal of harmony and closeness.” Lind and his medical staff learned more that year about how ultrarunning affects the body. “His group discovered, among other things, that oral temperature readings often indicate hypothermia, the drop of the runner’s temperature below normal, when in fact the core or body temperature is normal. Some NASA technicians came and ran some blood test on volunteer runners

Gonzales crushed his course record by four hours, finishing at Placer High School at 11:50 p.m. for a winning time of 18:50 surprising race volunteers with how fast he completed the course. Dr. Lind was very impressed and said, “I don’t think his time will be broken for several centuries, phenomenal.”

Bob Bunnell of San Rafael finished second in 19:48, and John Cappis, of Las Alamos, New Mexico, finished third in 19:49, avenging his 1977 68-mile DNF. Cappis said, “You have to be in superior condition to even think about running Western States. Anybody that finishes is a winner.” Doug Latimer finished 5th with 21:38, and Jim Howard finished sixth with 21:42.

Legends Ralph Paffenbarger, age 55, of Berkeley, California, and Peter Mattei, age 54, of Alamo, California who had teamed up to finish in 1977 in 28:36, came in together in 23:29, improving their best time. Dave Niederhaus, the marine who DNFed in 1977 finished in 26:26.

Cowman and Aisleigh finished together in 9^th place with 22:39. Ainsleigh was accompanied by his girlfriend’s dog the entire way, “Merlin,” an Australian shepherd. Sixteen runners finished within 24 hours, earning the Hermes belt buckle and twelve more finished within 30 hours. Jeff Nakama, the Hawaiian hand-walker successfully finished in 26:39.

With six miles to go, Pat Smythe realized that she would be the first woman to finish Western States. She recalled, “I toughened here, my concentration increased, and we picked up the pace.” Along with Lenihan, they ran the last mile to Auburn High School together along with some pacers. Smythe, ready to be the first woman to finish Western States, grabbed Lenihan’s hand. She said, “We sprinted that last, flat quarter-mile. I didn’t have to keep my eyes on the ground because I knew where I was going. And I was getter there first.” She became the first woman to finish Western States with a time of 29:34. She said, “I was just damn glad to finish. I wanted to get off my feet.” She was immensely proud to be the first woman to ever finish the race.

1978 Western States turned out to be Smythe’s last competitive running finish as she stopped running in 1982. Four decades later, she reflected, “It’s always just been a real personal thing, a real quiet thing that has stayed with me. I’m grateful that I was able to do it and love my body for its effort in pulling through for me.”

The Final Finishers

Steve Mason (1948-) age 30, of Reno, Nevada, lost the trail the trail at 3 a.m. with only nine miles to go and probably would have finished in under 24 hours. He became lost for nearly six hours, stranded on a cliff above the American River. As soon as race officials realized that he was missing, Search and Rescue from both El Dorado and Placer Counties were called out and started combing the hills for him.

His wife, Jane Mason was greatly worried. She reported, “Steve was found after almost six hours by some young people on horseback, who alerted the rescue team. Fortunately, he was not injured beyond a little hunger and thirst.” Mason was escorted back to “civilization” and examined by Dr. Lind who pronounced that he was in decent shape to finish the race if he wanted. His wife, expressing much appreciation, shared the good news, “With the help of John Kessler, who donned his track shoes and paced Steve the last miles of the race, my husband was able to finish within the 30 hours (29:38) and experience the feeling of accomplishing something for which he had trained for months.” Lind said Mason turned tragedy into triumph.

70-year-old Walt Stack also lost the trail for a while and finished in 38:47 along with Jim Fauss. They were listed in the official results for some reason. Stack described the experience, “It was by far the hardest race for me. You have to run in the dark with flashlights and carry a rattlesnake kit. Eighteen miles of the course is on snow. You have to run through creeks and get your feet wet. There are no running trails, just horse trails. My feet were so damn sore.”

Eighteen-year-old twins Peggy and Karin Stok also got lost at about mile 92. Peggy said, “You get what’s called runner’s daze. The rocks looked like they were playing a movie and I clearly heard the river talking.” They were eventually found by some campers who led them out of the woods and they arrived at Auburn in 37 hours but were not listed in results for some reason.

Among those who did not finish but dared to try were Michael Garrett, Dan Marus, Marc Askew, Jeff Sawyer, Bob Suter, David Berry, Jim Larimer, Gordon Bertoglio, Jim Weil, Tony Stratta, Mary Healy, Skip Swannack, Dan Hounchell, Dennis Gustafson, and Curt Sproul.

Reports about the 1978 Western States 100 were pretty much limited to Northern California newspapers. But mainstream ultrarunning did take notice as a paragraph was included in Nick Marshall’s 1978 Ultra Distance Summary. The Unisphere 100 was held the same weekend at Flushing Meadows in New York City.

Marshall reported about the California race, “Numerous horror stories about the extremely rugged conditions facing them on the uncertified point-to-point course through the Sierra Nevada had served to whet the appetites of the adventuresome souls. When the dust cleared, literally and figuratively, the next day in Auburn, defending champ Andy Gonzales’ 18:51 had lopped an incredible four hours from his course record set the previous year.” He went on to recognize it as “the most difficult run in America.”

At the finish, Shannon Gardner said that the finishers looked “brutalized,” but the race that year was a huge success. Robie was ecstatic and told Gardner that they had “caught a bear by the tail.” He knew the race would become a very big deal. It was proclaimed that with both the ride and the run, that Auburn was “the endurance capital of the world.”

Mo Sproul added, “It was fun to organize, fun to see the growing enthusiasm and fun to see Wendell’s interest in it. Wendell and his administrative assistant, Drucilla Barner, were encouraging Shannon and me to help this event grow. It was their enthusiasm combined with ours that launched it.”

The Run did take off. Other mountain trail 100 race organizers soon contacted Shannon Gardner, including Old Dominion and Wasatch Front, to pick her brain about organizing and conducting trail 100s.

The parts of this 100-mile series:

Sources:

Hattiesburg American, Jul 30, 1978
The Berkeley Gazette (California), Jun 27, 1978
Sacramento Bee (California), Jun 14, 24 28, 1978
The Chico Enterprise-Record (California), Jun 28, 1978
The Napa Valley Register (California), Jun 22, 27 1978
The San Francisco Examiner (California), May 2, 1979
Auburn Journal (California) Apr 17, Jun 19, 23, 28, Jul 14, 1978, May 4, Jun 18, Jul 11,13, 1979,
The Press-Tribune (Roseville, California), Jun 23,29, 1978
The Pacer Herald (Rocklin, California), Jul 12, 1979
The Los Angeles Times, Jul 13, 1979
Nick Marshall, Ultradistance Summary, 1978
2021 Interview with Andy Gonzales
2017 interview with Shannon Yewell Weil, Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run and Trustee for 30 years.
Runners World, “How the First Women’s Champion of Western States Found Independence on the Trail.”
Trail Runner, “How Western States Became a Race”
2014 Western States history presentation by Shannon Yewell Weil at the 2014 Western States Training Weekend. This Will Never Catch On: The birth of an Icon

81: The 100-miler: Part 26 – The 1978 Western States 100

By Davy Crockett