Thoughts about Western States? Thoughts about our conversation? Leave a comment below! We wanna hear from you.

I was heavily involved in the technical end of live sports broadcasting for near 2 decades. Worked 5 Super Bowls, 7 World Series, Stanley Cups, Daytona 500s, Olympics, America's Cups, etc. and (with team) earned 3 Emmys. I'm also an Ultra runner who retired to the eastern Sierra near Tahoe and spend ever hour I can (which is a LOT) in the back country wilderness. Few are as qualified to understand the crazy task the production crew took on to bring us the AMAZING coverage. Blown away. Absolute kudos to all. I know all did their absolute best, but now for the critical part ... when Dylan and Corrine left the booth to go to the field for interviews, everything went to HELL (live stream part 2, 3hrs:1min in). Those two (and the field reporters) had done such a GREAT JOB of building the excitement as it went along and presented with the most amazing WSER finish in like FOREVER, the guy who stepped in just went POOF and the air went out of the broadcast. For the next 20 minutes ... No information. Bad information. Conflicting information. Dead air to no end. At 3hrs, 15min, the livestream cuts to two runners (from the back) on the pavement in Auburn. The Chyron graphics appear to claim that it is both Rod and Hayden running together (but I had my doubts). As the camera follows, we are then told that Hayden has overtaken Rod for second ... not only wrong, but still no clarification that we are NOT watching Rod and Hayden running together as we had previously been informed via Chryon. Now the complete collapse at 3hrs: 21min... Chaos. Drone view of runners. We're told it's Hayden. We're not told if Rod is with him or not. Then someone says a mistake has been made about something, but we're not told what the mistake is (other than we're told it's camera related). Viewers are only alerted to the sprint for the finish for 2nd and 3rd by GASPS and OMGs from the onlookers near the finish line camera. As someone who doesn't know the faces, I can't tell who is who (and assume it is Hayden ahead as we were told previously). The first runner collapses on the pavement and doesn't roll over at all so we can't tell who it is ... we are not told who it is. Dead silence from the announcers as the runner lies on the ground writhing. Dead silence as another runner sprints across the line. Runner on ground being tended to ... dead silence. Plenty of audio, just no talent talking. From the moment that the sprinting runner crosses the line and collapses (3hr:21:50), it's 2 minutes before Dylan steps up and tell us that it is one of the greatest finishes in WS history and gives both runners names but NO POSITIONS. Viewers still can't know who beat who to the line. Audio filled with superlatives: "Historic" "Heroic" "This is THE BEST day ever, the BEST sport every, the BEST race ever". Yeah, yeah, all true ... but WHO CAME IN SECOND? Nearly 6 minutes after the "best finish ever", we get the shot of the podium three with medals ... but the viewers still have zero idea who came in second. 10 minutes in, Dylan is back with commentary as Dan Jones crosses the line for 4th. Well, we know 1st and 4th now. 13 minutes in all three podium men are being interviewed, still no mention of who finished second. 15 minutes in, Dylan when beginning his interview with Hayden (if you pay attention) he tangentially says something that gives a clue that Hayden finished third (he says that Hayden has been a runner up here at WS and finished on position lower). FINALLY!! Broadcast grade for the first 14 hours? A+++. Just amazing. Grade for the next 30 minutes? F ... but that's not going to reduce the overall grade much because of how WELL y'all did with a ragtag crew of amateurs who worked their hearts out and stuck everything but the landing. I've worked for years with the likes of John Miller, John Madden, Al Michaels, etc. Dylan is a NATURAL. An amazing talent. Overall grade. A freakin' A++. The team should be so very proud of what was accomplished. If the WS gets to sports broadcasting big time, we know it all started here in 2024. Damn good, and a team of horses won't be able to stop me from volunteering for 2025. I'll sweep floors and dig trail ... don't care, just want to be a part of it.

@KelpandFern

10 күн бұрын

Great to hear your perspective, i've never worked on live ultra-running media but I make daily short films for multi-day races and FKTS, as well as full-length documentaries for this sport. I can say that what they did throughout was phenomenal and there was always going to be some issue along the way, but that final mens three was catastrophic. I've had some bad days filming world records and important moments but nothing like that. It was these exact moments the live stream was set up and we missed it all and then not even filled in to what had happened. Still, massive kudos to the media team and runners out there for everything else they did to put the rest of it together, i know exactly how hard it is!

@randmcnally.

10 күн бұрын

I also work in the industry (post production: design and animation) and I agree - if I were to give two pieces of advice to the states production: 1) test out all your gear on location prior and be sure you know what works and what doesn't and how to recover quickly - their intention was amazing but execution was rusty 2) consult more with people like yourself - there is no need to re-invent the wheel. I was so happy with the coverage and thankful for it but I was frustrated, as an AV nerd at heart, when the audio cut out as people were crossing the finish line. The no cameras on Rod debacle was unfortunate too - I really thought HH just stepped on the gas in some incredible way. Capturing that race at the end would have been so crazy. If trail ultras continue to grow in popularity all that's going to happen is CBS or some other more experienced and funded entity will come in and snap up a single commentator and then throw their existing infrastructure behind the coverage and leave the people who are doing this now out of a love of the sport behind. To put my money where my mouth is, I am actively looking to volunteer my own time to help out where my skillsets fit.

@johnborton4522

10 күн бұрын

@@randmcnally. //" I was frustrated, as an AV nerd at heart, when the audio cut out as people were crossing the finish line. "// I have no inside info, but I don't think it was an audio problem, I think it was an organizational problem. Dylan's mike was on, hot and in use (interviewing Walmsley) when the gasps from the crowd began to come in. I think Dylan and Corrine were the two that had the race positions and history in their heads and when they left the booth, all that knowledge went with them. When Dylan realized something was up approaching the finish line (you can see it in his face), he had no idea who was where. From the field, he had no way to know. The on air talent can't paint a picture if they aren't told in their ear by the producer what the picture is. Just inexperience ... they are learning as they go and I am just stoked to have been able to follow an amazing race in the manner they best provided.

@KelpandFern

10 күн бұрын

@@randmcnally. I hear ya and cheers for chiming in and hearing your perspective, there aint that many of us doing this in the trail and ultra world so always good to meet some others online! Yeh you can totally feel the love in the media right now and it mirrors what you get at an aid station or volunteers from a race, its like nothing else and I see it at the best races i've filmed or raced in myself, the belief in the people volunteering is what makes it so beautiful. And yeh, i can totally see it going that way for sure and a few in the sport now will follow the money and it will probably ruin what everyone is currently trying to build.

@brettkennedy_

10 күн бұрын

Nailed the viewing experience take. Going to the Jim interview at that time was the wrong call and it set off a chain reaction of chaos. That aside, huge advancements year on year and just grateful to be able to watch the race from start to finish.

Been waiting for some WSER race recapping but didn't expect the best parts to be the pacing recaps 😁

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

#SideQuests 😂

@brettkennedy_

10 күн бұрын

@@runsingletrack I went too early. The cat videobomb into aggressive 🤘was also an unexpected highlight.

Coverage was great. Watched about 80% of it. Don't understand why Dylan and Corrine BOTH left the booth to do post race interviews and left us all hanging at a very critical part of the coverage but I suppose that was the only fail in my opinion. As for post race interviews....Give them 30 minutes or so, they just ran 100Miles not a 100M!

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

I love those interviews they do, but I agree there’s an opportunity next year to coordinate them a little better with the finishes

@KTravRuNEr

10 күн бұрын

Agreed - Post interviews gotta wait when top people are finishing. They need to learn how to pivot better when things change. The entire live stream was upset

@kimaboe

10 күн бұрын

@@runsingletrack I'm guessing the guy giving the runner bios as they crossed the finishline was the stadium announcer? There were quite a few outright errors in the bios. Pretty sure he said Yngvild came top ten last year, that Petter was Norwegian, and that Ida was Norwegian, but lives in Sweden, which is an impressive 0/3 for the fun facts factiness :p

dani is such a wonderful addition to your team, you harmonize wonderfully with each other, it's a pleasure to listen to you!

Brett (black bucket hat guy 😆) did awesome getting commentary on course. Dibo and Corrine also did their usual fantastic job as anchors keeping it exciting and informative. The announcing changed near the track however with long periods of “dead air” and announcer seemed to be reading off a script.??? Loved all the pre race interviews you guys did, kudos to all. 😀🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

@mitchellmclaughlin6360

10 күн бұрын

Brett’s sinopsis of Hayden coming through pointed rocks cracked me up.

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Thanks so much for watching and for the praise

Such a great race and the live coverage was awesome! Thank you! Can’t wait until next year 😁

Great coverage of Western States, been a blast listening to the podcast and following all the ins and outs. Thanks!

Brett's face and Dani stifling her laugh while Finn tells the pacing story is why I came here. Thank you all for your service.

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Hahahaha

Looks like I’m doing a long run today

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Hahaha thank ya

“The buns were buttered, and It was a big patty, and it was juicy, and I am feeling like you may have lubed up your insides with cow fat” For this and more, I ❤ singletrack (Comedy gold)

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Bahahahaha

@guitarraclasica

9 күн бұрын

@@runsingletrack if i had been drinking coffee when this was said i would have been like the dude in the aircraft carrier tower and when maverick does the close flyby.

Good stuff! Much appreciated!

A note I want to add on the topic of everybody sort of catching up to Walmsley with the professionalism. Walmsley was married to high-carb fueling way back in 2016. If you watch his IrunFar interview from that year, he talks about shooting for 400-600 calories per hour, and even mentions that people told him that’s crazy. I don’t think anybody else at the time was doing that much-the norm was still very much 200-300 calories per hour. I think Rod and Hayden have both publicly stated that dialing in their high-carb nutrition plan is a huge reason for their successes. My point being, in 2016, Walmsley was just about the only person married to high-carb. Now, everybody is.

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Dang, great research here..can you send me the link to that interview? Thats awesome

Best Story Ever = Finn’s pacing story. So funny! SO funny!!!

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Hahahaha

Dani! Priscilla is Canadian! Just FYI ;) Notes for 1:07:22

@Danimorenoruns

10 күн бұрын

Ty! 🙏Will remember that for the future

@maireadkeady5680

8 күн бұрын

@@Danimorenoruns As an aside I loved your commentary and analysis and insights during this pod! You're a fantastic voice and I hope they have you co-host more often.

@Danimorenoruns

7 күн бұрын

@@maireadkeady5680 🙏🙏

@runsingletrack first you guys are awesome. My absolute favs🎉 and my mind was blown away by Western States. I am coming from Pennsylvania so I had coverage on in the wee hours of the night...way too exciting to sleep! I even kept coverage playing during mile one of my first 50k so I could hear Sally's finish😂 . LOVED the Golden Hour moments watching the remaining runners come in...this IS a team sport and just love seeing the support we all have for each other! Your pre race interviews were the BEST! THANK YOU 😊 We appreciate you guys!

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Thanks so much for watching, for your kind words, and your dedication to the sport..all means a lot to us ! 🙏

The coverage and race was super exciting. Livestream was great up until the end. So just a matter of refining how the interviews are conducted at the end of the race.

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Agree! I think it went amazing this year and much of the stuff left to improve on the presentation side of things is totally manageable like coordination of interview timing

I think for most people Western States is a once in a lifetime race, so the pressure to finish is high. You only get one chance. At least, that's how it was for me the year (2010) I ran it. That said, the elite race this year was awesome for both the women and the men. Super fun to follow and the coverage was great.

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Good point about the influence of the sense of urgency impacting finish rate

Love the pacing stories here. For someone who’s never had a pacer or crew - it awesome to hear these stories. Faster times - so many changes over time in crewing, pacing, nutrition, race strategy, race support, and coaching. Things were always going to get faster with all of this advancements / changes. Courtney is amazing but not super human. Katie was so close to her record. Let’s give Katie the respect she deserves and stop pretending no one will break Courtney’s records. We still have very low women participation in ultras. Once we get more of the faster athletes, those times will drop more. And so much love to Rod Farvard. What a run and sprint to finish. My new fav elite. ❤

Coverage was phenomenal. Only drop of the ball was audio as the top men were finishing. Considering where livestream has evolved in just a few short years. Overall, I was glued for 30 hours and my entire family now knows of all things Western States haha!

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Agree, but yeah, another great improvement year over year

Sorry to hear about your blowup, Finn, but I really enjoyed this recap. Great analysis, as always.

The depth _was_ deep

I thought the live stream was beyond excellent. DBo and Corrine and all the other in the field and in the studio commentators were great. But the live chat was a disaster. So many people who have no idea what's going on. So many people deliberately creating confusion. Very sad. It's cool in golden hour to be sharing encouragement for the final finishers, but throughout the day, too many silly or mean comments. Of course, I can turn the live chat off, but still wanted to make that observation. Singletrack's pre-race interviews were excellent. IRunFar's pre-race interviews also excellent. Other good coverage as well. Thank you!

Brett discovered and made famous , BEN the pacer.

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

I need to know more

@dewaynescott5114

8 күн бұрын

@@runsingletrack So Brett was thrown a live feed and at that time . Jim Walmsley picked up a pacer. Brett turned to Jim's crew and asked who is the pacer. Jim's crew said. Ben. No last name. No backstory. Just Ben.

glad that contaminated undercooked burger didnt do you in Finn, though it sounds like your western states experience involved more hallucinations and vomiting than courtney dewaulter's western states experience. Dani should be on Singletrack all the time.

I was thinking this post watching the race: If I was a Hoka athlete and I saw Jim had white Tecton Xs and I was stuck with wearing black shoes on a hot day, I’d be lightly salted.

@CoachMattPowered

10 күн бұрын

Jim had two prototype shoes made for him that he switched out at crew stations. Being the best gets you certain perks.

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Thoughts? @ConversationalPace

Yeah burgers are brutal. Your body spends so much time processing all that protein, and a lot of energy is used just to do that lol So now it's just bouncing around in your digestive tract, putting all that strain on it... Finn just stole the WS100 highlights too. That's quite the story. I don't think any runner doing the full 100 has that story lol All he needed was that Hangover (movie) type of story, of waking up in some other country surrounded by the cartel, asking him questions about where the drugs went, while he's asking them where Caleb is. With regard to the more aggressive running this year, it sounds like all the runners took Pam's advise, from the Office. There's an episode where they do a 5K fun run and Jim asks her what her racing strategy will be and Pam says, "First, I'll start fast. Then I'll run fast in the middle. Then I'll end fast..." to which? Jim says, "Whaaat? Why don't more people do that?" And Pam replies with, "Because they're stupid."

Vaporfly the high country!

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

#VaporflyTheHighCountry

For Finn and Dani, I'm curious what shoes you wore while pacing. I assume Dani wore the Agravic Speed Ultra? But for Finn, was it a Brooks? And that sounds rough Finn. It will make me rethink my fueling strategies! :) Also, will you all provide us with what the podium runners were wearing? Yeah, I'm all about the shoes!

@Danimorenoruns

10 күн бұрын

Yes the asu! Perfect for these trails 😊

@christopherorman5769

10 күн бұрын

@@Danimorenoruns Thank you! I think that is my next purchase and what I anticipate will be my race day shoe.

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Nike Zegama 2!

@christopherorman5769

10 күн бұрын

@@runsingletrack so, my evening run was in the zegama 2. I think once they break in and you get used to the zoom x, it is a great shoe. Thanks for sharing Finn. All the best. I've put Cocodona on my bucket list because of you. However, I have a lot of miles to put in to get there.

Gotta be honest, it’s kinda lame to use Courtney as the thumbnail when she wasn’t even in the race this year. Especially when it was a race that featured so many epic performances that are worthy of attention.

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

All thumbnails for Western States content (including this) were made before western states week about 10 days ago - we used our content from last year, including this photo. I stand by it. Team is tired, worked non stop the last 8 days. Doing the best we can!!

@LawofMosesHere

10 күн бұрын

I agree with Matt- this is clickbait- also, Courtney didn’t even get listed for this year as running so even if you chose photos from 10 days ago, you shouldn’t include her in a thumbnail for 2024. She wasn’t first female or overall, and it detracts from who did race. Full stop

@bathable129

10 күн бұрын

I agree as well, we’ve known Courtney wasn’t running this race for months - not trying to pile on, and overall have loved the coverage, just think this is a bit disingenuous

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Folks, I think you’re over-analyzing the motives here. Thumbnail strategy was second to last if not dead last on the totem pole of marketing tactics and priorities this past week. Theres just not a malicious or disingenuous narrative to uncover here 😂, I was flying by the seat of my pants trying to get the little details like these minimum viable done. In fact, I recall giving this one next to no thought here - maybe I was thinking, oh, here’s a finish line photo, it kind of signifies a recap, let’s use that. I promise to be significantly more thoughtful next year 🤷‍♂️

@brettkennedy_

10 күн бұрын

The depth is not that deep on this one

The burger wanted out …..

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

With vengeance 😂

Agree with Brett, cover the race- interviews can wait. Interviews are kinda boring - I mean what is a runner gonna say? Focus on the race - interview afterward.

25:20 fastest first WS100 for a guy. Not that confusing.

It's gonna be a looooong time before you have a hamburger again !!!

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

Somehow I’ve had 3 in the last 3 days hahaha..it makes no sense, I know

@Jmisslyn

10 күн бұрын

@@runsingletrack OMG !!🤣🤣🤣

What’s with the thumb nail?

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

All thumbnails for Western States content (including this) were made before western states week about 10 days ago - we used our content from last year, including this photo. I stand by it. Team is tired, worked non stop the last 8 days. Doing the best we can!!

@studiohost

10 күн бұрын

Got it , good show all the same ! Keep trail running fr$$ !!!

This may be my old man yelling at a cloud moment but I have an issue with the elites I saw at the last aid station leaving with their entire crew running with them handing them everything they need.

@CoachMattPowered

10 күн бұрын

Muling rules need to be clarified. I'm Rod's coach and everyone I spoke with had a different interpretation of it. We went by the letter of the law, but changed when we saw others were not. I've reached out to the race to clarify things for the elites.

@Nosam8036

10 күн бұрын

I assumed it was okay since it was happening but the fact that it wasn’t clear makes it worse

@CoachMattPowered

10 күн бұрын

@@Nosam8036 It's definitely not clear. My interpretation is that all of what went on is banned, and I did not want Rod to win then have someone complain. We still did it later in the race after seeing what others were doing, but yeah we need some set guidelines.

@kimaboe

10 күн бұрын

@@CoachMattPowered I heard another athlete the other day talking about how most elites don't carry any of the mandatory gear in races with lots of required stuff and always get away with it. Meanwhile the sub-elites are trying their best to perform while carrying an extra kilo of random shit. Some rules are just for the plebs, it seems.

@KTravRuNEr

10 күн бұрын

100%

Brett discovered and made famous , BEN the pacer.

@runsingletrack

10 күн бұрын

I need to know more..