© Copyright – 2026 – Athletics Illustrated
Ryan Montgomery is a professional ultra runner and community organizer with the organization Out Trails. Montgomery has raced over 20 100-mile ultras, including the Western States 100, a race he finished 7th in 2023 and then moved up in performance to third in 2026, taking a whopping one hour and 44 minutes off his previous best with a 13:53:55 finish.
The interview
Christopher Kelsall: Congratulations on the third-place finish at the Western States 100 and the fastest American time in history. Have you come down yet?
Ryan Montgomery: Of course. While I’ve enjoyed basking in such a great athletic performance, I do have other goals. I am shifting towards those goals now; however, I will definitely maintain the spirit and energy from my WS 100 performance for a while. I think it will be great to keep visualizing that in my training and future races.
CK: Are you a big proponent of visualization for racing? How does that manifest? Do you use longer runs to visualize, or do you set aside time to stop everything and run the race through your mind?
RM: Definitely. I think there are two forms–one that is short-lived that I do during training runs and the other is longer-form and deeper, perhaps a bit more intentional. I visualize all the time on my runs. There’s a lot of time to think during my training, so naturally, thinking of a race and visualizing myself in the race naturally comes up. And then throughout the day, I find myself visualizing the race, the finish line, and the prospect of winning or podiuming. I don’t do very much ‘structured’ visualizing; it is mostly organic and naturally comes up a few times a week.
CK: The previous record by Jim Wamsley was 14:09:28; you bettered that by nearly 16 minutes with your 13:53:55. That’s a lot. On the starting line, were you thinking sub-14 hours?
RM: I wasn’t thinking sub-14 hours, for sure. However, I was thinking low-14 hours. I know my fitness is capable of that. As I ran the race and used the competition to push myself, I definitely surpassed the time expectations. I wasn’t really measuring time during the race. I was running the race, and towards the end, I began to realize how fast we were running!
CK: You were fewer than eight minutes off the win, finishing in third position in 2026. Has it gone around in your mind that if the tactics were different, you might have won this year? Or are you happy with the way it played out?
RM: I think any rational person would think–wow, what if I won? That definitely has crossed my mind since the race. I remember at mile 80 (Green Gate), a friend of mine made a comment saying, “Ryan, you can win this thing!” It didn’t really cross my mind to win the race all day, so it felt a bit surreal to be in contention. But at the end of the day, I felt like I had the day that I wanted for a few years. And for that, I am super happy! I am sure people felt that given my excitement at the finish line.
CK: There is a bio out there that says your favourite trail is the Mt. Rainier Wonderland Trail. Can you describe it from a fast ultrarunner’s perspective?
RM: I grew up in the Seattle area, and naturally, I spent much of my childhood looking up at Mt. Rainier in awe. I’ve always wanted to run around it (and climb it!), so I took that FKT back in 2020. The route is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, with a lot of diversity. As you circumnavigate the volcano, the climate subtly changes. You cross massive glacier fields, run through meadows, and traverse boulder fields. The variety of the terrain made my experience super special. And simply put, if you’re a runner who does not want to run all the way around a volcano! Pretty cool.
CK: It must be a perfect training venue, being 93 miles around the mountain area. However, how often in training would you run 93 miles? I assume rarely. Would bikepackers use the route?
RM: Actually, I think the Wonderland Trail is a bit too vertical for WS100 Training. Western States is a fast course, so I think having mountain legs combined with leg speed is part of the secret sauce for success. I would think Wonderland Trail training is more appropriate for mountain races, like in the Alps in Europe, where the climbs (and descents) are over 3,000 ft and on repeat.
CK: How long did you live in Alaska? For the winter months, were you into Nordic skiing? There are some great marathon runners who cross-country skied a lot, like Libbie Hickman and Greta Weitz, among others.
RM: I lived in Alaska during my middle school years only. So, it was still very much my childhood. I found Nordic quite recently, getting on my first pair of XC skis in the winter of 2020/2021. And I lived in Craig, Alaska, which is in SE Alaska. It’s very wet and not as traditionally ‘cold’ as people think of Alaska to be. Just a lot of cold rain.
CK: I can relate, living in a temperate rain forest on Vancouver Island. Somewhere I read that you said racing an ultramarathon is 90 percent mental. Also, you have said that ultra running is a celebration of “me”; 100 miles is a long way. When do you begin to celebrate? Is celebrate-time the whole time, or does this come in the post-race euphoria?
RM: Celebration is something I channel the entire time when I race (and train), but I don’t view celebration necessarily as a traditional ‘jumping up and down’ euphoria. It is gratitude and happiness.
CK: Sometimes internalizing a great day does much for the mind and outlook, wouldn’t you say?
RM: Definitely. I really believe that mentally we limit ourselves (or unlimit ourselves) in sport. Every time I hit a new milestone in racing – first 50 miles, then 100km, then 100 miles, then 200 miles – I always surprise myself with what I can do. With self-belief and a positive outlook, the body is capable of extra ordinary persuits. It’s why I love this sport of ultra-endurance so much.
CK: Can you break down the different mental states you experience while racing 100 miles? For example, in the sprint, there is the start, followed by acceleration, and then maintaining as much speed as possible, all within 100m. Or the marathon is a 20-mile warm-up followed by a 10km race. Could you encapsulate the 100 miler that succinctly?
RM: It is hard to explain the mental state(s) of racing 100-miles because each one is so different. I’ve had races where I suffer mentally 60 percent of the time, and I’ve had 100-miler where the ‘suffering’ is short-lived. Even in the Western States, year-over-year, the experience mentally is very different. Honestly, this year’s Western States felt the best yet–very focused. I felt similar from Mile 4 to Mile 70, especially focused, in control, and content.
Mile 70 is when my mental fitness started breaking a little bit, and it required me to re-center and re-focus on racing. When you become mentally tired, your brain starts playing tricks on you, and you try to find little excuses to dissociate (extra time at the aid station, a moment to wash your face when I don’t really need to). Those moments can add up.
Miles 80 to 94 were quite tough–everything hurt so bad, but you have to keep the gas pedal down. You just want to stop so the best word is long-suffering. Once I hit the last aid station at Mile 94, I could taste the finish line, and my mood started to shift from suffering to excitement.
CK: If you are into music, who are your top choices to listen to, and are you of the camp that says no music while running or yes to music while running?
RM: Oof. This is tough. My playlists range from country, to early 2000s pop to EDM/House music to today’s top hits. I listen to music about 50 percent of the time, mostly during long runs and workouts.
CK: What does a typical training week look like for you?
RM: I run 90-130 miles and 10-20K of vertical gain. All single runs, no doubles, so concentrated volume in single runs, two lifts in the gym.
CK: Do you have a mentor, or is there a training program that you follow closely?
RM: My coach Jason Koop from CTS Running. Also, my best friend Tina Muir is a huge mentor and mental coach to me.
CK: You appear to be a big fan of UTMB. Will you be racing again in August?
RM: Next year in 2027.
