This is the Monday, May 4th edition of single track news.

And guess what?

I am in the driver's seat riding solo monologuing this week.

Fear not because we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming with Alyssa Clark next week.

She's actually out on the Kokodona course right now and we'll be commentating on the Mountain Outpost live stream all week. So be sure to tune in.

Let's waste no time. First up, midweek last week, the Western States 100 updated their website

to include their 2027 golden ticket schedule. It's going to be the same races as 2026 with the same allocation of tickets,

for example. The Black Canyon 100K and Canyons 100K will remain quote unquote super golden

ticket races with six total tickets up for grabs at each. The complete schedule includes CCC,

Havillina, Tarawara, Black Canyon, Kianti, and Canyons.

When we shared this exact info on our Instagram account the other day, there were some

strong positive and negative opinions shared in the comments section. I'll share some of my

thoughts here. First off, up front, I individually like all of the races currently part of the

series, and clearly each event

contributed exciting, highly qualified top athletes to this year's Western start line.

I also recognize the constraints in the system.

For example, any race that is a part of the series has to be a Hoka-sponsored race, which

certainly limits the available pool of supply to choose from.

I believe that is the case at least

through 2029, maybe slightly earlier when the partnership with Western might be up for renegotiation.

But anyways, a few points here. I mean, look, this is a personal preference. I know it's debatable,

but I have always wanted the series to stay local, stay stateside with more representation across other

...