Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB, live.

Four races down the Western States canyons

Auburn is where the Western States trail ends, and for one weekend in April it is where four UTMB races end too.

The Canyons Endurance Runs run on the most storied ground in American ultrarunning: the deep, hot river canyons between Foresthill and Auburn that the Western States 100 crosses every June. The hundred miles drops in at the China Wall trailhead and works south through Deadwood, El Dorado Creek and the climb to Michigan Bluff before the long descent to the American River, No Hands Bridge and the last pitch up Robie Point into town. The hundred kilometres shares that finish; the 50K and the 25K start and end in downtown Auburn itself.

It is also the race that hands out Golden Tickets — a podium here is an entry to Western States — which is why the front of the field is worth watching from the first canyon rather than the last. On Livebib the whole course is on the map with the runner on it: distance covered, the next aid station, and an arrival estimate that moves as the canyons take their toll. One link, and the crew at Foresthill knows when to stand up.