Dawn Bean ran 100 miles in under 24 hours!
Coloma-Lotus local Dawn Infurna-Bean’s goal for her third year and final year of competing in the Western States Ultramarathon was to finish in a blaze of glory. She certainly succeeded! She finished in 23 hours and 9 minutes; shaving 40 minutes off her previous record.
The Western States Endurance Run is a 100 mile long (161 km) ultramarathon that takes place on trails in California’s Sierra Nevada annually on the last weekend of June. The race starts at the base of the Squaw Valley ski resort and finishes at the Placer High School track in Auburn, California. Runners climb a cumulative total of 18,000 feet and descend a total of 23,000 feet on mountain trails before reaching the finish. Because of the length of the race, the race begins at 5:00 A.M. and continues through the day and into the night. Runners finishing before the 30 hour overall time limit receive a bronze belt buckle, while runners finishing in under 24 hours receive a silver belt buckle.
Dawn believes that her strong support crew, an awesome pacer, and her positive attitude all helped her complete the event in record breaking time. “It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” she reported. Congratulations on the silver belt buckle Dawn!