The Guzzler Ultra is the best (in our opinion) Western States qualifier in Australia. All 100km runners are in with a chance to qualify to enter the Western States lottery, drawn in early December. All you need to do is sign up for our main event – The Guzzler Ultra 100km – and complete the course in under 24 hours to qualify for a lottery ticket and a chance to race this historic, sought-after event. 

What is Western States?

The Western States® 100-Mile Endurance Run is the original 100-mile trail race, held in California on the last weekend of June next year. Originally a horse race, The Western States became a trail run by chance in 1974 when a rider named Gordy Ainsley decided he would run with the horses after his own horse fell lame in the weeks before the event. Gordy completed the 100.2-mile journey from Olympic Valley to Auburn, California on foot. Over the following decades, the Western States Endurance Run has evolved to become one of the ultimate endurance tests and a pinnacle event for ultra-trail runners. Only 369 runners can qualify for a place to race each year in their quest to become a Western States finisher and earn a legendary sub-24-hour silver or a sub-30-hour bronze finishers belt buckle.

How do I Qualify for Western States in Australia?

In order to enter the lottery for the 2025 Western States Endurance Run, runners must complete a specific Western States qualifier event from a select list of quality races (eg. The Guzzler Ultra 100km), in the given qualifying time (usually between November – November preceding the lottery). When you successfully completed your specific Western States Qualifier in the allowable time, runners earn a lottery ticket which they can use to enter an annual lottery draw to win a spot to race. Due to the incredible demand for spaces and the limited number of permitted runners, the Western States lottery system is used to draw runners for one of the 369 spaces, and 50 waitlist spaces each year.

What Are My Chances In The Lottery?

Each runner who completes a qualifier in any given year earns one ticket for that year. And each year a runner does not gain entry into the run has their tickets roll over to the next lottery they enter, improving the probability of being selected.

Every lottery applicant will receive 2^(n-1) tickets in the lottery, where n is the number of years a runner has been in the lottery.For example: 1 ticket in year one, 2 tickets in year 2, 4 in the third year, 8 in the fourth… and so on. Basically, the more times you enter the lottery, the better the chance you’ll have of earning your spot but we know more than one local runner who has got in on just one ticket…

Full details of the Western States entry process are documented on the official website. So why wait?! Enter The Guzzler Ultra 100km today, and this could be your year to qualify for the world’s oldest 100-miler.

It only takes one ticket…