Wollongong runner Joshua Wiffen conquers Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run

It's been almost a week since the Wollongong single-father of one finished the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run.

When Wiffen reached out to the Mercury he was still feeling extremely sick and fatigued.

Every part of the 43-year-old's body also still hurt but Wiffen had no regrets participating in one of the most prestigious 100 mile footraces in the world.

The world's oldest 100 mile trail race starts in Olympic Valley, California and ends 100.2 miles later in Auburn, California.

Wiffen, well known in Wollongong as a youth worker and artist, was originally slated to do the run in 2020 but COVID hit and the event had to be postponed.

The following year Australians could not travel overseas so again Wiffen missed out.

Fortunately event organisers agreed to allow about 15 Australians, which included Wiffen, to rollover their entry to this year.

Wiffen was pleased but not prepared for the event as much physically or emotionally as he was back in 2020.

"But I was never not going to do the run and miss out on an opportunity of a lifetime," he told the Mercury.

"I was primed and ready to run in 2020. It was disappointing when the event was postponed because of COVID.

"In late 2021 I began to have Achilles issues which meant I had almost six months of no running coupled with lockdown and uncertainty as to whether 2022 would see no international travel again.

"So instead of a solid base and a good training block beginning in November, I was starting from scratch on about 20 flat road kilmetres a week in December, monitoring the viability of the Achilles and avoiding course specific hill work.

"Then the long wet summer destroyed all hope of heat, trail and elevation specificity so I just had to make it work how I could.

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"Eventually I was logging eight hours for 70kms (mostly flat) and word was, get yourself to the States or lose the potentially once in a lifetime opportunity.

"Due to the lack of quality training I was almost going to let the ticket go until about two months prior to the event when I joined some friends for a run around [Lake Illawarra] and then left them to finish with run up Mount Kembla and back home for a total of eight hours and 70ks.

"At this stage I decided I was good to at least toe the line, so I soon found out the event was going ahead, we were allowed to travel and frantically began booking flights and accommodation."

Though when Wiffen did finally make it to the US he hit some major hurdles.

"Within a week the food gave me the squirts and I barely slept more than an hour a night," he said.

"From here it got worse, I expected to be leaving the Australian winter for an American [Californian] summer, yet what I was treated to was snow, sleet, rain and sub zero temperatures whilst attempting comfort in the world's worst tent."

Wiffen, who completed the run in 29 hours and seven minutes, said he never seriously thought about quitting despite some dark times.

"I have never felt such fear and trepidation before an event but here I was, just stick to the plan. I had told myself and anyone that asked for the last few weeks that a result of 29h59m59s is all I was after, anything else was a bonus," he said.

"I nevertheless left the start intended on moving easy but shooting for a sub 24-hour pace. This was going well until I hit the canyons.

"Going into it, from all reports, my biggest fears were the elevation and the heat but once I was there it was the unrelenting downhills.

"I am usually a big fan of running downhills but the downhills here just keep going, there's nothing in Wollongong like it and certainly not when half the mountain is being washed into the ocean."

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With his legs "wrecked", Wiffen decided to change tactic while climbing out of the canyon at the 55 mile aid station.

"From here I took it a lot easier which meant mentally I crossed the finish line fresher. However my feet were ruined from being wet all day, blisters, swollen, the nail on my pink toe has shifted about half a centimetre forward so it's likely permanently changed.

"My knees were aching and swollen and all my leg muscles so sore that walking is a problem.

"I couldn't raise my right arm due to carrying ice around my neck the whole day which kept shifting to my right shoulder and back."

Recovery is top of the list for Wiffen but he hinted after the race that he might try and run the Tahoe 200 mile event down the track.

This is a big call from the Wollongong resident who only took up running later in life.

"I have never really been into much fitness wise, actually running kind of seemed dumb to me early on unless you were actually running somewhere so that it has purpose," Wiffen said.

"I only started running after some major life upheaval with a relationship breakdown and my dad dying.

"It was around this time that a friend of mine offered me a free four-week pass to outdoor fitness.

"After joining this I found I had a certain talent with the running specific sessions and the group offered specific add-on programming towards running a half marathon or marathon.

"Soon after this I discovered that there were wilder distances and they are run in the bush and on the mountains and I have never looked back. I'm now hooked."

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