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Fresh off of his 5th place finish at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships held June 8 in Innsbruck- Stubai Valley, Austria, Drew Holmen decided not to race the Western States this year.
Instead, Holmen, 31, will pace a teammate for the last 20 miles of the 100-mile competition.
Holmen called on Thursday, June 22, from Olympia Valley, Washington, the starting point for the Western States, with an update on running and work.
“I decided to skip the Western States this year, and I’m glad I did,” Drew said. “Instead, I will pace my friend and teammate, and I’m looking forward to that.”
Western States is the world’s oldest 100-mile trail race. It was held last Saturday, June 24, and Sunday, June 25.
Last year Holmen covered the rugged endurance trail run in 16 hours to take fifth place. The year before, Drew placed third on his first try at running the legendary Western States course.
When asked about his race in Austria, Drew said it was a great event but brutal. “It was straight up and straight down. We climbed 20,000 feet. However, because I was running with a team, I really enjoyed that aspect of the competition. If the race had been scored by place as they do in cross country, we (Americans) would have won. We took 5th, 6th, and 7th place. However, the race was scored by accumulative time, and France won the team competition by five minutes. Still, we got the silver.”
The race was won by Benjamin Roubiol of France in 9:52:59. Drew finished in 10:06:58 for the 52.8-mile event.
It turns out that Drew isn’t the only runner in the family. His older brother Ian, 33, ran Grandma’s Marathon two weeks ago in 2:43 off of very little training.
“He was running with the three-hour pace setter group, but it was too slow for him, and he took off,” Drew said. “I was really proud of Ian. He was in his last week of medical school (residency) and had little time to train.”
Drew graduated Cook County High School in 2010 and then attended Carleton College. After receiving his degree in biology, Holmen spent five years in San Francisco, taking up the sport of trail running before landing in Boulder, Colorado, where he currently lives and trains. While he runs professionally for Nike, Holmen also works for a tech company based in San Francisco, where he is Chief of Staff. Balancing a full-time job and preparing for ultra-marathons, Holmen does the bulk of his running, typically 70-80 miles per week, in the mornings before work.
“That mileage seems to work well for me,” said Drew. “I’m excited for the future. I should have a lot of good years left to keep improving.”
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