Hello, welcome to the free trial podcast for a very special episode.

Today, my guests are Western States race director,

Mr. Craig Thornley and Western States board vice president, the great Tofer Gaylord. Of course,

I am on the board of Western States myself. And the three of us work every year together to

construct the golden ticket calendar as part of our responsibilities with the race organization.

Craig has nine finishes of the race himself, Tofer, seven, me, a less impressive three.

So together we have 19 triumphant belt buckles between the three of us, and we all love the race.

And with the 2024 edition just around the corner, it is time to announce the 2025 golden ticket race calendar.

So today, that's what we're doing.

And in addition to announcing the races themselves, more importantly, we are explaining the rationale behind those selections so that the global trail running community can understand the thought process that goes into these important decisions.

Transparency, something you'll hear Craig talk about here in just a second.

Now we are less than two weeks away from the 51st Western States 100.

I again have the honor of working on the broadcast and the privilege of serving on the board with incredibly high character people. We hope as a group that you will engage with the race through the broadcast, the race coverage, social media, or better yet, come experience it yourself, if not this year, at some

point in your life. It is one of the most incredible events across all sports, and I couldn't

be more excited. Thanks for listening.

Okay, welcome to a special edition of the podcast to reveal and discuss the 2025 Western States Golden Ticket Calendar.

I am joined by two very special guests.

First, Western States race director, Mr. Craig Thornley. Craig, how you doing?

Well, it's pretty busy getting close to the race here. But other than that, I'm doing really well.

I'm excited to announce the Golden Tigger races. Yeah, we were just chatting about how Craig is not getting a lot of sleep, but we got to give some shine to Diana Fitzpatrick,

who happened to carry a chainsaw, 11 miles doing trailwork, the president of the board of the

Western States 100.

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