Kaci Lickteig wins women’s Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run

Press release from CTS. The Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run is an ATRA corporate member. (Photo: Kaci on her way to 2nd place at the 2016 Lake Sonoma 50 Mile).

June 29, 2016 (Colorado Springs, CO) – Hailing from the flatlands of Nebraska, professional ultrarunner Kaci Lickteig captured the biggest win of her career by winning the women’s race of the mountainous 100-mile Western States Endurance Run ultramarathon on June 26 with a finish time just under 18 hours. Lickteig’s 17:57:58 fulfilled one of her life-long goals to win Western States. Lickteig is coached by Jason Koop, Coaching Director for CTS and author of Training Essentials for Ultrarunning: How to Train Smarter, Race Faster, and Maximize Your Ultramarathon Performance.

“Kaci did everything right,” commented Koop. “Training, nutrition, lead-up races, and heat acclimation were all spot on. She also handled the race well from start to finish by managing her effort and attitude. She was the smartest, toughest and best prepared.”

Lickteig’s victory at the world’s oldest 100-mile ultramarathon is a testament to her hard work and determination and shows the power of the training concepts Jason Koop shares in Training Essentials for Ultrarunning (VeloPress, 2016). Though the Western States race course features more than 40,000 feet in overall elevation change, Lickteig primarily trained for the event near her home in Nebraska, where the largest local hill rises just 93 feet. In addition to countless hill repeat workouts on the small local hills, Coach Koop focused Lickteig’s training with interval workouts designed to increase Kaci’s speed and aerobic capacity, a strategy that flies in the face of ultrarunning’s traditional high-mileage, low-speed training methods.

“Dream days happen not by magic but by hard work, determination, and believing in yourself and your training,” said Lickteig at the finish. Koop added, “Kaci’s a real person. Her win shows that if you do the right things and avoid the wrong ones you can be successful, even at the highest level.”

Amanda Basham, another runner coached by Jason Koop and a CTS Coach herself, finished fourth in the women’s field in her debut Western States race. “Amanda was a revelation in the women’s field,” commented Coach Koop. “Few people knew who she was before the day started. That’s no longer the case. She executed the race well by managing her efforts early and was just tough as hell toward the end.”

Over the past decade Coach Koop has become one of ultrarunning’s leading coaches, working with several of the sport’s stars including Lickteig, Dakota Jones, Timothy Olsen, Dylan Bowman, and others. His proven coaching methods represent a crucial shift in ultramarathon training, prioritizing energy system development and focused interval training over the traditional high-mileage style of training. As the sport of ultrarunning continues to grow, more athletes are seeking top-quality coaching. CTS has responded to increased demand by adding two more ultrarunning coaches this year, John Fitzgerald and Amanda Basham, and training them to deliver Coach Koop’s methods.

About CTS

A pioneering company in the endurance coaching industry, CTS has improved the performance of more than 16,000 amateur and professional athletes since 2000. Founded by renowned coach and author Chris Carmichael and home to more than 40 full-time, professional coaches, CTS provides personal coaching, training camps, and Endurance Bucket List experiences to athletes of all ability levels. For more information, visit www.trainright.com.

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