| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 28, 1983 Amherst, Wisconsin |
| Website | http://www.timothyallenolson.com/ |
| Sport | |
| Country |  United States |
| Sport | Running |
| Event(s) | Ultramarathon |
| Team | Adidas |
Timothy Olson is an American ultra-runner who was the former recordholder (fastest known time) for the Pacific Crest Trail in 51 days, 16 hours and 55 minutes. [1] He won the Western States 100 in 2012 and 2013, including the former course record of 14 hours, 46 minutes and 44 seconds in 2012. [2]
Olson was born in Amherst, Wisconsin. While at school he took up cross-country running in order to get fit for basketball but then found running appealed to him more. After problems in his personal life, he dropped out of college but things improved when he took up coaching in Amherst. Moving with his wife Krista to Ashland, Oregon he met a group of ultra-runners and joined them in training. [3]
In 2009, Olson ran his first fifty kilometer race and came in sixth. The following year, he won his first one hundred mile race. In 2011 he first attempted the Western States 100. The route goes from Squaw Valley to Auburn, California and attracts an international field and he completed the course in 16 hours 18 minutes to finish sixth. [4]
In 2012, Olson won the 39th annual Western States 100 race in the record time of 14:46:44, trimming the course record of 15:07:04, set by Geoff Roes two years earlier, by over twenty minutes. [5] [6] He won the race again in 2013, [7] and also competed in the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, where he came fourth with a time of 21:38:23. [8]
In 2014, Olson won the "Male Runner of the Year" award at the Endurance Live sports awards organised by the Competitor Group, Inc. [9]
On Thursday, July 22, 2021, Olson set a new men's supported fastest known time (FKT) on the 2,653-mile Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in the western United States. His time of 51 days, 16 hours, and 55 minutes beat the previous record set by Karel Sabbe of 52 days, 8 hours, and 25 minutes in 2016. Olson started at the PCT's southern terminus on June 1, hiking and running an average of 51.3 miles per day. [10] This record is now back in the hands of Karel Sabbe.
The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie 100 to 150 miles east of the U.S. Pacific coast. The trail's southern terminus is next to the Mexico–United States border, just south of Campo, California, and its northern terminus is on the Canada–US border, upon which it continues unofficially to the Windy Joe Trail within Manning Park in British Columbia; it passes through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington.
An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 kilometres. Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of 31 miles (50 km) to over 200 miles (320 km). 50k and 100k are both World Athletics record distances, but some 100 miles (160 km) races are among the oldest and most prestigious events, especially in North America.
The Western States Endurance Run, known commonly as the Western States 100 or Western States, is a 100.2-mile (161 km) ultramarathon that takes place on California's Sierra Nevada Mountains trails each year on the last full weekend of June. Western States is the oldest and one of the most competitive ultramarathons in the United States, and is administered by the nonprofit Western States Endurance Run Foundation.
Scott Gordon Jurek is an American ultramarathoner, author, and public speaker. Throughout his running career, Jurek was one of the most dominant ultramarathon runners in the world, winning the Hardrock Hundred (2007), the Badwater Ultramarathon, the Spartathlon, and the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run (1999–2005). In 2010, at the 24-Hour World Championships in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France, Jurek won a silver medal behind Shingo Inoue and set a new US record for distance run in 24 hours with 165.7 miles. Jurek has followed a vegetarian diet since 1997, and a vegan diet since 1999.
The Leadville Trail 100 Run is an ultramarathon held annually on rugged trails and dirt roads near Leadville, Colorado, through the heart of the Rocky Mountains. First run in 1983, the race course climbs and descends 15,600 feet (4,800 m), with elevations ranging from 9,200 to 12,620 feet. In most years, fewer than half the starters complete the race within the 30-hour time limit.
The Angeles Crest 100-Mile Endurance Run, or AC100, is an ultramarathon 100 miles long that takes place annually along trails through California's Angeles National Forest.
Tim Twietmeyer is an Auburn, California-based ultramarathon runner and an engineering manager at Hewlett Packard, in Roseville in the U.S. state of California. Twietmeyer is also a mountain biker, road cyclist, and retired almost-scratch golfer and swimmer. He is best known for his five victories and unprecedented 25 sub-24 hour finishes at the 100-mile (160 km) Western States Endurance Run.
Nikki Kimball is an American distance runner specializing in the Ultramarathon. She ran her first 100-mile race at the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run in 2004, and was the female winner. She was the winning female at Western States again in 2006 and 2007, becoming only the third woman to win Western States three times. In 2014, she won the Marathon Des Sables multi-stage endurance race on her first attempt. Prior to running, her main sport was cross-country skiing. She was crewed at the 2007 Western States by U.S. Senator Max Baucus of Montana, where Kimball lives. She lives in Bozeman, Montana.
Hal Koerner is an American distance runner specializing in ultramarathon running. He is the owner of a specialty running store, Rogue Valley Runners, located in the mountainous Southern Oregon town of Ashland. He is one of the subjects of JB Benna's feature-length documentary "Unbreakable: The Western States 100".
Karl Meltzer is an ultrarunner and ultrarunning coach based in Sandy, Utah. Meltzer has won more 100-mile ultramarathons than any other ultramarathoner, and has held speed records at major U.S. trails, including the Appalachian Trail and the Pony Express Trail. Meltzer's trail runs have been featured in news outlets from Ultrarunning.com to NBC Sports. Meltzer has been a professional ultramarathoner since 1999, and a coach since 2007.
Tracy Garneau is a Canadian ultramarathoner. She was the 2010 UltraRunning Female North American runner of the year.
Ryan Nicholas Sandes "Hedgie" is a South African trail runner. In 2010 he became the first competitor to have won all four of the 4 Deserts races.
Josh Garrett is an American athlete, hiker and veganism activist. In 2013 he set a world record for the overall fastest known time for a thru hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, which traverses the American Cordillera of the United States from Campo, at the Mexican border, to Manning Park in British Columbia.
Ellie Greenwood is a British ultramarathon runner. She began her ultra career in 2008 and is a two-time 100km World Champion, winning the title in 2010 and 2014. She holds numerous course records, including those for the Canadian Death Race, the JFK 50 Mile Run and the Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run. She is the first British woman to win the 90 km Comrades Marathon in South Africa. She held the course record for Western States 100 from 2011 through 2022.
Kristin "Krissy" Moehl is an American ultramarathon athlete who specializes in trail running. In 2005, Moehl became the youngest woman to complete the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning, which included a gold medal at the Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run.
Kieren D'Souza is an Indian ultramarathon runner and endurance athlete. In 2016, he became the first Indian to qualify for and finish the Spartathlon, a 246 kilometre footrace from Athens to Sparta held annually in Greece. Kieren, then aged 23, completed the race in 33 hours, 2 minutes and 25 seconds, standing 85th among 370 participants. Up to 2016, only 29 athletes under the age of 25 had completed the race that has been held annually since 1983.
Courtney Dauwalter is an American ultramarathon runner and former teacher. In 2023, Dauwalter became the first athlete ever to win Western States 100, Hardrock 100 and the UTMB, three iconic 100-mile races, in the same year.
Jim Walmsley is an American long-distance runner. An ultra-trail specialist, his wins include the JFK 50 Mile in 2014, 2015 and 2016, the Lake Sonoma 50 in 2016 and 2018, the Tarawera Ultramarathon in 2017, and the Western States 100 in 2018, 2019, and 2021. He holds several course records and fastest known times, including the Western States 100, set in 2018 and further improved by 21 minutes in 2019. In 2023, he became the first American man to win the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc.
A fastest known time (FKT) is the speed record for a running, hiking or cycling route. Unlike most endurance sports competitions such as marathon world records, FKTs are self-organized and done alone or in small groups. FKTs are most popular on long trails suitable for thru-hiking or ultramarathon trail running such as the Appalachian Trail, the Pennine Way, and the John Muir Trail.
Karel Sabbe is a Belgian dentist and ultrarunner. While Sabbe is not a professional athlete, he has repeatedly set several speed records on prominent trails and completed elite races such as Barkley Marathons.