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By Davy Crockett
The 1977 Western States 100
In 1977, Wendell T. Robie (1895-1984), the president of the Western States Trail Foundation and the director of the Western States Trail Ride (Tevis Cup), decided that it was time to add a runner division to his famous Ride. For more than two decades this 100-mile endurance horse race had been held on the famous trail in the California Sierra. Could ultrarunners also race the course?
Robie had previously helped seven soldiers successfully complete the course on foot in 1972 (See Forgotten First Finishers), the first to do so, and had been pleased that Gordy Ainsleigh had been the first to finish the trail in under 24-hours in 1974. (See Episode 66). In addition, dozens of people had backpacked the trail since then, and a couple others had tried to run the course solo during the Ride. Robie believed it was time to organize a foot race on “his trail” for the first time.
This first Western States 100 in 1977 was hastily organized by riders, not runners. There was no consultation with the existing well-established ultrarunning sport at that time. Practices were put in place that mostly mirrored the endurance horse sport such as mandatory medical checks, but did not use the existing ultrarunning practice of setting up aid stations. The event would be held with nearly 200 riders and horses also competing on the course at the same time as the runners. The day would turn out to be perhaps the hottest ever for the historic race. The risks were extremely high for this small rookie running race staff and some rather naïve runners. Who were the runners who turned out for this historic first race? Did they have the experience to finish or just survive?
Walks and runs across Death Valley, in California during the hot summer started as early as 1966 when Jean Pierre Marquant (1938-) from Nice, France accomplished a 102-mile loop around the valley that included climbing two of the high mountains. 
In the 1970s, the sport of ultrarunning received very little attention in the mainstream media. In April 1974, 
The most prominent runners had the help of skilled marketing resources to keep their name in the spotlight. Their goal was not to go after sanctioned records or even formal course records. Instead, they focused mostly on getting their name into the Guinness Book of World Records to claim invented “world records,” which are what we call today “fastest known times.” Because the most elite ultrarunners in the world were not self-promoters, they remained in general obscurity except among their ultrarunning competitors and clubs. It was the self-promoter record-seekers who truly became famous.
Since the dawn of the sport of ultrarunning more than a century ago, a unique breed of ultrarunner has existed which I will call the “self-promoter.” They were skilled in using their running talents to gain fame and fortune, mostly by doing “stunts” rather than participating in competitions. There is nothing inherently wrong with seeking to make a living this way. Before World War II, most ultrarunners were “professionals” who lived off winnings, wagers, and gate receipts from doing stunts.
In the early 1970s, several highly competitive 100-mile races had been held in England, but they were still primarily organized for attempts to break British or world records. In 1975 another classic race was held, perhaps one of the greatest and most competitive 100-mile race ever held. It left one reporter speechless, witnessing something that he would never forget, watching some of the fastest 100-mile runners ever, and experiencing the sportsmanship of ultrarunning for the first time. This story must be retold.
