The Golden Ticket: Examining the Impact of Winning the Western States Endurance Run Lottery on Subsequent Ultramarathon Performance and Travel Decisions

The Western States Endurance Run (WSER) is the premier 100 mile trail race in the United States. Due to requirements put in place by the United States Forest Service, there are only a limited number of participants allowed to compete in any given year. These participants are selected through a lottery for which they must first qualify by running a qualifying performance at another event. For these reasons, the WSER is a “bucket list” event for many ultramarathon runners. We exploit the randomness of the lottery to determine if winning the WSER lottery affects the training and travel behavior of lottery winners. We find that WSER lottery winners compete in more races, perform better in these races, and travel more in the short run (1–2 years). However, in the long run, lottery winners compete in fewer events, travel less, and compete in smaller events than lottery losers.