Jim Walmsley

Jim Walmsley (born January 17, 1990)[1] is an American long-distance runner. An ultra-trail specialist, his wins include the JFK 50 Mile in 2014, 2015 and 2016, the Lake Sonoma 50 in 2016 and 2018, the Tarawera Ultramarathon in 2017, and the Western States 100 in 2018, 2019, and 2021. He holds several course records and fastest known times, including the Western States 100, set in 2018[4] and further improved by 21 minutes in 2019. In 2023, he became the first American man to win the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc.[5]

Jim Walmsley
Personal information
Born (1990-01-17) 17 January 1990[1]
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb)
Websitehttps://www.walmsleyruns.com/
Sport
Country United States
Event(s)Half-marathon, ultramarathon, trail running
College teamAir Force Academy
TeamHoka One One
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)1500m: 3:48.16[2]
3000m st: 8:41.05[2]
5000m: 13:52.87[2]
10,000m: 29:08.88[2]
½-marathon: 1:04:00[2]
Marathon: 2:15:05[3]
100km: 6:09:26[2]

Sponsored by Hoka One One, Walmsley was named UltraRunner of the Year for four years in a row - 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.[6][7][8] In addition, he qualified and ran in the 2020 Olympic trials in the marathon with his 2019 qualifying performance at the Houston half-marathon.[9] While competing in the Hoka One One Project Carbon X 100K Challenge on May 5, 2019 he set a new world best for the 50 mile distance, completing it in 4:50:07 (besting Bruce Fordyce's previous 36-year old record by 14 seconds).[10] Walmsley won the World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships in 2019.[11]

Career

High school

Walmsley attended Horizon High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. In his senior year in 2007, he became Arizona's Division 5A-II cross country state champion, winning every race he ran in, and was named Runner of the Year.[12] He finished 23rd in the national championships that year.

College

He considered attending Arizona State, Georgetown, Iona College, Washington, California and the Air Force Academy,[12] eventually choosing the latter. During his 4 years there, from 2008 to 2012, he ran cross country and also took part in the 5000 meters, 10,000 meters, and steeplechase.[6] In 2012, as the captain of the cross country and long-distance running teams,[6] his best times were 4:04 for the mile, 13:52 for 5000m, 29:08 for 10000m and 8:41 for the 3000m steeplechase.

Achievements
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
2014 JFK 50 Mile Washington County, Maryland, United States 1st 50 mile 5 h 56 min 31 s
2015 JFK 50 Mile Washington County, Maryland, United States 1st 50 mile 5 h 47 min 37 s
2016 Bandera 100K Bandera County, Texas, United States 1st 100 km 7 h 46 min 37 s
2016 Moab Red Hot 55K Moab, Utah, United States 1st 55 km 3 h 49 min 20 s
2016 Lake Sonoma 50 Healdsburg, California, United States 1st 50 mile 6 h 00 min 52 s
2016 JFK 50 Mile Washington County, Maryland, United States 1st 50 mile 5 h 21 min 29 s
2017 Tarawera Ultramarathon New Zealand 1st 100 km 7 h 23 min 32 s
2017 Gorge Waterfalls 100K Cascade Locks, Oregon, United States 1st 100 km 8 h 20 min 28 s
2017 Kendall Mountain Run Silverton, Colorado, United States 1st 12 mile 1 h 31 min 05 s
2017 Speedgoat 50K Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, United States 1st 50 km 5 h 04 min 55 s
2017 UTMB Chamonix, France 5th 167 km 20 h 11 min 38 s
2018 Lake Sonoma 50 Healdsburg, California, United States 1st 50 mile 5 h 51 min 16 s
2018 Western States 100 Squaw Valley, California, United States 1st 100 mile 14 h 30 min 04 s
2019 Houston half-marathon Houston, Texas, United States 27th half-marathon 1 h 04 min 00 s
2019 Hong Kong Fast 50 Ultra Hong Kong 1st 50 mile 6 h 05 min 00 s
2019 Western States 100 Squaw Valley, California, United States 1st 100 mile 14 h 09 min 28 s
2019 Ultravasan Mora, Dalarna, Sweden 1st 90 km 5 h 47 min 28 s
2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials Atlanta, Georgia, United States 22nd marathon 2 h 15 min 05 s
2021 Hoka One One Project Carbon X Phoenix, Arizona, United States 1st 100 km 6 h 09 min 26 s
2021 Western States 100 Squaw Valley, California, United States 1st 100 mile 14 h 46 min 01 s
2021 Ultra-trail Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa 1st 100 km 9 h 47 min 20 s
2022 UTMB Chamonix, France 4th 167 km 21 h 12 min 12 s
2023 UTMB Chamonix, France 1st 172 km 19 h 37 min 43 s

Records
Course records set by Jim Walmsley[13]
Event Time Date
JFK 50 5 h 21 min 28 s 19 November 2016
Lake Sonoma 50[14] 6 h 00 min 52 s 9 April 2016
5 h 51 min 16 s — current record 14 April 2018
Bandera 100K 7 h 46 min 37 s — current record 9 January 2016
Tarawera Ultramarathon[15] 7 h 23 min 32 s — current record 11 February 2017
Western States 100[4] 14 h 30 min 04 s 23 June 2018
14 h 09 min 28 s — current record 29 June 2019
Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc 19 h 37 min 43 s — current record 2 September 2023

References
  1. "DUV Ultra Marathon Statistics". statistik.d-u-v.org. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  2. "Jim Walmsley - Athlete Profile". IAAF. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  3. "U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon Live Results". track.rtrt.me.
  4. "Jim Walmsley Breaks the Course Record at Western States". runnersworld.com. 25 June 2018.
  5. "Jim Walmsley and Courtney Dauwalter win the UTMB in a historic American double". Runner's World. 2023-08-31. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  6. "Career Highlights". walmsleyruns.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  7. "Dauwalter and Walmsley 2018 UltraRunners of the Year". ultrarunning.com. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 11 Mar 2019.
  8. "Walmsley and Dauwalter named 2019 UltraRunners of the Year". ultrarunning.com. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 16 Apr 2020.
  9. "Houston Half Marathon propels ultrarunner Jim Walmsley to Olympic trials". houstonchronicle.com. 20 January 2019. Retrieved 11 Mar 2019.
  10. Metzler, Brian (2019-05-05). "Jim Walmsley Sets New 50-Mile World Best in Hoka One One 100K Challenge". Runner's World. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  11. World Athletics: Walmsley and Simion take Long Course Titles at World Mountain Running Championships.
  12. "Boys cross country runner of the year tribune: Jim Walmsley, Horizon". eastvalleytribune.com. December 23, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  13. "Tableau récapitulatif des records battus en 2016 par Jim Walmsley". trails-endurance.com. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  14. "Lake Sonoma 50 History and Results". lakesonoma50.com. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  15. "Winners Smash Tarawera Ultra Records", Rotorua Daily Post, 11 Feb 2017.
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