2026 MCW Race Series 24 Hour Westfield Ultra

 

This race became far more than just me chasing personal records (PR). It became a bonding experience between me and my son. As the hours and miles wore on through the event, my drive to continue veered away from my original motivation to run the race: setting a new PR for a 24 hour race. Like my last race at the More Miles backyard, it was again my oldest son that drove me forward to not give up and continue to fight through the low points. If not for him, I may have continued with just enough effort to set a new PR, but I am extremely confident that I would not have smashed my previous best 24 hour performance by as much as I did. And to think that he almost wasn’t there to provide that support and give me the will to dig deeper when I really didn’t feel like it. It was only a few days before the race that the plans and childcare coverage necessary for him to join me solidified.

My decision-making process of what to run between More Miles backyard in May and Big’s in October was plagued with uncertainty. I knew I wanted to run something that would force me to run through at least one night because I felt like a struggled so hard overnight at More Miles. I had a couple FKTs in mind that would fit the bill, but coordinating childcare and crew support would have been a greater challenge than just jumping into a 24 hour race. After much deliberation and waffling, I finally committed to running the MCW Race Series 24 hour Westfield Ultra. The Westfield Ultra’s flat, fast 0.8 mile course of finely crushed stone was the perfect opportunity for me to dip my toes in the waters of 24 hour events and see what I might be capable of. I had run three 24 hour races prior to this one: Race Against the Sun and Adventure Trail Run (x2). Both are trail races and although neither course is terribly technical nor ridiculously challenging regarding elevation change, neither are ideal to run as far as you possibly can in a 24 hour period. Outside of refamiliarizing myself with pushing through the night portion of a race, that was the primary objective for me: to see how far I could go on a flat, fast course in 24 hours and hopefully smash my 24 hour PR.

I was pumped at the prospect of bettering my 24 hour PR already and the thought that I would likely better other distance PRs along the way seemed like a great motivational tactic, but a few days before the race my oldest son Steven asked if he could come with to crew/pace me which got me even more pumped. I had planned for him to stay home to help a bit around the house while I was away, but when he asked to come, I couldn’t say no. After shifting around some childcare coverage on short notice, everything fell into place. Steven would support me in my efforts to chase PRs.

I went in with an A goal of running 10 minute miles. This started off feeling easy and I was averaging just over 9 minutes per mile through the 100k mark. This was a little over seven and half hours into the race and the point when things started to feel more challenging. It was going on 5 pm at that point and it had been warm with the high reaching 88 °. The heat and the sun certainly played a role, but also the mental hurdle of knowing that my next PR target was almost 40 miles away. I struggled on at a decent by slightly slower pace knowing all my goals were still well within reach as long as I didn’t fall apart.

My greatest struggle was around 11 to 12 hours in. Drowsiness was hitting me hard and the sun had set. The hottest part of the day was over, but I felt like I was working harder to maintain focus and move well. Part of the issue was my stomach. It was hurting and I had no appetite. I believe this was mainly due to my lack of consuming any real food which in part is due to my inexperience with the 24 hour timed race format. I went into it thinking that 24 hours is short compared to multiple day backyard events. And on top of that, my thought process was that any time I spent pausing to eat was time taken away from moving and decreased my pace. With these thoughts in mind, my plan was to mostly depend on gels or gummies and the race provided electrolyte hydration as my primary source of calories. In retrospect, this seems like it was a mistake based on how my stomach felt at that point.

 

I had eaten minimal real food, and my stomach was empty and upset about it. Ignoring it and trying to push through got me to the point where I couldn’t just eat a cheeseburger and resolve it; that would have been too much too quick. I panicked a little and lost confidence I’d be able to maintain a decent pace much less my target pace through the overnight hours. This is when Steven really stepped up. He started pacing me for more of the laps providing encouragement and suggesting new real food snacks until I started eating a little every 2-3 laps. It was Belviata biscuits that provided the magic and finally started to settle my stomach. The real food in addition to washing the biscuits down with some Kong energy drink (only $0.50 for a 16 oz can on sale at Lidl - WINNING!) completely turned my race around. After an hour or two of that regimen, I finally felt energized and in control again. I told Steven I was good and he should get some rest so he has energy in the morning to push me in the last few hours if I need it. Unfortunately, he was so concerned with my well-being he had eaten a pack of caffeinated energy gummies and had trouble getting any sleep. He did lie down in our tent and closed his eyes for at least 3-4 hours so he wasn’t totally depleted the next morning.

Steven was back up and crewing me again before the sun rose. Thankfully, things went along pretty smoothly until the end of the race. The greatest challenge for the last few hours was maintaining my motivation. I hadn’t been checking the standings of the race but based on the few updates Steven provided I was pretty certain that I had the first place finish effectively secured given the time remaining. I thought a two hour nap sounded pretty nice to feel not so tired for the drive home. I reminded myself that wasn’t what I came here for and Steven stressed it to me as well. I picked up my pace a little with one hour remaining but didn’t really start pushing the effort level until the last half hour. Of the 176 laps I ran, my last three laps were in the top 30 fastest with lap 174 being the third fastest and my last lap being my overall fastest. This tells me that there was something left in the tank at the finish and room for improvement in this format.

When time ran out, I had covered 140.8 miles setting a new 24 hour PR and picking up a stack of other PRs along the way:

• 50 mile PR - previous 8:40:44 (Batona 53 Miler, 2016) → new 7:35:49
• 100k PR - previous 10:29:30 (Race Against the Sun 24 hour, 2025) → new 9:31:52
• 100 mile PR - previous 17:22:31 (Race Against the Sun 24 hour, 2025) → new 16:08:14
• 24 hour PR - previous 129.17 (Race Against the Sun 24 hour, 2025) → new 140.8

I’m extremely pleased with the race experience overall, from my performance and overcoming some struggles to reaching my main PR goal. Not to mention I got to do it all with my oldest helping me along the way. It has also reignited something I’ve been curious about for years but have been hesitant to pursue, attempting to qualify for the US 24 hour team. Perhaps I’ve avoided it because I’m afraid I’ll fail or just because I’m not exactly excited about running 24 hours on a track. Maybe both. This performance has certainly helped to raise my confidence that with the right course, the right conditions, and a great performance, qualifying for the US 24 hour team may be within my reach.

Scott Snell

13 August 2026