The GVH aid station is perched on a hillside in a remote location at about mile 65 of the Western States Endurance Run (WSER) course. This is the first station that runners can arrive at with a pacer. After running over from Olympic Valley and up and down three canyons in the heat, most runners are pretty spent. We do our best to re-fuel, re-hydrate, and get them moving along.

Most volunteers never aspire to run WS100, but they do it to support one of the most storied, grueling running races in the world.

The Western States Endurance Run (WSER) is a not-for-profit event which is only made possible through the generosity of the over 1500 volunteers who enjoy giving back to the running community year after year.  As a way to show it's appreciation for the volunteers who help at aid stations, each aid station is awarded an automatic entry into the Western States Endurance Run.  Our club is fortunate to be one of those whose members manage an aid station.

The race strongly encourages each aid station captain to award the entry to someone who has demonstrated a strong record of volunteering, especially for the WSER. In this spirit of giving back to the running community, the approach to awarding the Cal 1 Aid Station slot emphasizes volunteering and active club membership. The current selection process is attached (the link on the website appears to be broken).

Important Dates

(updated as of October 15, 2024)

1.  Between November 1, at 12:01 AM and Saturday, November 24, at 11:59 PM (Pacific time.) The GVH member must apply for the WSER using the race's on-line application process. See:  [http://www.wser.org/entry-process/ ]. The runner must meet all eligibility criteria for the WSER as outlined on its web site.

2.  By midnight October 30, the GVH member must submit to the GVH President (Nicole Osorio: osorionicole64@gmail.com) and Cal 1 Captains (Aryn Yancher: aryn.yancher@gmail.com) a summary of their activities related to the volunteering and active club membership criteria.

3. If the applicant has not yet run their qualifying race, please indicate what the planned qualifier is and when the race will take place (e.g. if you are using Rio Del Lago as your qualifier, just let us know).

4.  Between November 1 and November 15 the Voting Committee (Elected GVH Officers and Cal 1 Captains) will select a GVH member for the automatic entry, and inform the club of the results.  The Voting Committee will also choose a backup runner (per WSER's wait-list protocol).

5. Between November 15 and November 30, the Aid Station Captain will provide the name of the selected GVHer and backup runner to the WSER.  The WSER will designate that person as an Automatic Entry; they will not need to go through the WSER drawing. The WSER race director will then send them an invitation to complete their registration at ultrasignup and pull them out of the lottery before the drawing on December 7.

6. On December 7, the WSER will hold its official drawing at Placer High School in Auburn, California at 8am. Any remaining GVH members who applied for the WSER will be included in that drawing.

Selection Process

GVH Western States Endurance Run (WSER) Aid Station Entry Award for Outstanding History of Volunteering

GVH is eligible to award a single “automatic” entry for a qualified runner to run WSER for the Cal 1 (Dardenelles) Aid Station GVH operates each year. Because there are literally thousands more entrants than there are available entries, this entry is highly coveted. It is the desire of the WSER that the aid station entries are awarded to individuals who embody the spirit of volunteerism that is necessary to put on that event. The intent of this document is to provide a clear and unbiased process and guidance for identifying the most deserving candidate based on their outstanding level of volunteering for WSER and the broader running community.

Applications submitted by eligible runners will be reviewed by a Selection Committee composed of the GVH elected Officers and Aid Station Captain(s). To prevent a “Conflict of Interest,” anyone who applies for the entry will not be eligible to be on the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee will rank the candidates to determine who is most deserving of the award based on their outstanding level of volunteering at WSER and at other running-related events.

The following are the steps to be used by the Selection Committee for determining who is awarded the entry. While these guidelines are not absolute, they provide guidance to help the GVH Selection Committee in identifying a runner worthy of the award.

1. WSER-Qualified Runners will submit their qualifications by October 30th to the GVH President as well as to the GVH WSER Aid Station Captain(s).

2. The GVH applicant must meet the basic requirements for qualifying to enter the WSER. [www.wser.org/entry-process/]. Note, however, that meeting the minimum requirements for entry into WSER is necessary but not sufficient for being qualified or selected for the GVH entry.

3. The entry will be awarded to a GVH member in good standing. Priority for receiving the award will be given to an active GVH member. Runners who have a long-term active affiliation with GVH and/or its members and an outstanding history of applicable volunteering may also be considered, provided they join GVH at the time of application. However, first priority will be given to active GVH member volunteers. To be considered an active GVH member, they should be present at GVH workouts and/or other GVH events at some reasonable frequency. We realize there are many reasons that preclude an individual from being present at the GVH workouts or activities, and Selection Committee will certainly consider those reasons.

4. Ranking of Eligible Candidates.

a. The principal consideration used by the Selection Committee for ranking the candidates will be the applicant’s outstanding history of active volunteerism for WSER and for other running-related events. This includes but is not solely limited to volunteering at the GVH Aid Station during WSER. The Selection Committee may also consider other volunteering for WSER, GVH events, and other running-related events.

b. We understand that some members have family and/or professional obligations which make it impossible to volunteer at the level of others and this will be taken into consideration, however potential applicants should keep in mind that this an Award for outstanding volunteerism.

c. When determining the ranking between candidates with outstanding records of volunteering, the Selection Committee may also take into consideration other factors such as whether the candidates have run the WSER previously. Given the competition for entry slots, GVH echoes the sentiments of the WSER and would like for all interested runners who have never run Western States to have a chance to participate in the race. Please note that while we encourage helping other runners, for the purposes of runner selection we do not consider crewing or pacing for individual runners as volunteering.

d. Receiving the club slot the previous year precludes a candidate from the GVH entry that year (i.e. you may not run on the club slot two years consecutively).

e. The Selection Committee will make the final decision on ranking eligible candidates (i.e. first, second, third etc.).

5. In the event that more than one candidate achieves the top ranking based on the criteria outlined in #4, then the entrant will be selected by a random drawing among the top-ranked candidates.

6. Selection will be made by November 15.

a. The candidate chosen for the entry must make their decision to enter or pass within 3 days.

b. If the candidate declines, the next-ranking candidates (second, third, fourth etc.) will be selected.

c. The name of our club’s chosen entrant must be provided to the WSER Race Director by November 30.

7. In the event no GVH member meets the basic Award selection criterion of demonstrating an outstanding history of volunteerism, the Selection Committee will meet to identify and present the Award to a deserving candidate outside GVH.

8. As Western States continues to change, this document may be updated to reflect those changes.