In the Western States, a pioneering ultra-trail race on the trails of the Gold Rush in California, the cream of the discipline competes

For one more belt buckle. While the setting wouldn't look out of place in a John Ford film, it's not the title of a new western. On Saturday, June 28, in the depths of the Californian night (5 a.m., 2 p.m. in Paris), 369 runners (101 women and 268 men) will set off on the trail used, in the ^19th century, by gold and silver prospectors during the Gold Rush.

Their goal? To connect Olympic Valley, site of the 1960 Winter Olympics , to the city of Auburn, a distance of 100 miles (160.93 km) on Californian trails, ever further west. And as a trophy, each competitor who manages to complete the ^52nd edition of the Western States Endurance Run (WSER), the pioneering ultra-trail race, the oldest American "100 miler", in less than 24 hours will win a silver belt buckle - bronze for those who complete it in less than 30 hours.

"Historically, the "Western" is a crossing that was done on horseback, like other major American races ," explains French ultra-trail runner Ludovic Pommeret, who has twice competed in the Californian event ( ^6th in 2023). "There is still this somewhat mythical side." In 1974, American Gordon Ainsleigh chose to start on foot in a race that saw riders compete in one day over the iconic distance of 100 miles.

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