After years of trying, Placer football coach gets his shot at Western States Endurance Run

There was a time when Joey Montoya hated running. Even though he was a lifelong athlete who played multiple sports, Montoya hadn't run farther than a mile and a half at one time before 2007. He's a different person today. "I essentially made a decision that I was going to change my perception and feeling on running to deciding to not wanting to be without it," Montoya says. "I just wanted a physical challenge that I knew my mind would get wrapped up behind, and I found a sport I fell in love with. I'm in the best physical shape of my life, and I'm 42." Montoya, widely known around Auburn as the varsity football head coach at Placer High School, took up ultra running, and at 5 a.m. June 26, he'll compete in his first Western States Endurance Run. "It's something I've been dreaming about for a long time, and I couldn't be more excited to be in this race," he says. How Montoya reached this point in his ultra life is a story all its own; what it took for Montoya to gain entry into the Western States, that's another story. 'Why not start with a bang?' Montoya started running in 2007, his first year at Placer. He says he found a 3-mile loop and started jogging. Montoya talked to people about the sport and says he received "good advice" from Placer cross country coach Randall Fee. Montoya also connected with Matt Keys, a Western States veteran whom Montoya paced for one of his races in 2014. "I saw immediately what a special race it was and thought to myself that is what I want to do," Montoya says. Montoya heard about the Way Too Cool 50k. He had never run an official race and thought, "Why not start with a bang?" He remembers the training. "I remember thinking, this is nuts," he says. "My first 22-mile training day, I thought this is hard to fathom, going almost another 10, let alone further. But I did it; I got it done. It was one of the most challenging things I'd ever done but one of the most gratifying." That was in 2013. Montoya has been running ultras since: eight 50ks, three 50-milers, six 100ks (five official, one unofficial). He's in, but so is COVID There are multiple ways to qualify for the Western States, but it's no easy ticket. There are 323 entries this year. By comparison, the 2019 Boston Marathon had 30,000 runners. One way is through a lottery held in December to fill the remaining openings in the field. "They pick from a big barrel," Montoya says. Montoya's name wasn't drawn – four years in a row. "I kept striking out," he says, noting the barrel could be filled with up to 6,000 names of hopeful ultra runners. Since he didn't qualify for a golden ticket as an elite runner, there was another avenue. Each aid station on the course gets to pick one runner. Montoya worked at an aid station, local runner and friend Dan Barger recommended him to Diana Scott, captain of the Red Star station, and Montoya was selected. "I thought (Montoya) would make a good go of it and wouldn't waste it," says Barger, who will try to finish the Western States for the 13th time. "You want to have a guy give it 100 percent, and I thought Joey would be that person." Montoya finally had a berth in the Western States, but that was last year. The COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, and everyone knows what happened next. "I had been training, working hard, and when I saw the Olympics were canceled, my heart kinda dropped because I knew it was just a matter of time before the Western States was canceled," says Montoya, who credited race officials with their handling of the situation. Every runner in last year's event kept their berth this year. "It was handled with a tremendous amount of integrity by (race director) Craig Thornley and their board." While Barger says, "You never know what the day is going to bring" in the Western States, he's sure Montoya will shoot for a silver buckle by finishing in under 24 hours. Nothing like running Montoya says there is a science that goes into conditioning to be an ultra runner, and it's different for everybody. There is nutrition and fluids, during training and the race. There is a runner's crew and pacers. And then, there is training. Montoya says he "ramped up" his training in January and "ramped up" more as time went on. He hired a running coach, Western States veteran Meghan Canfield, who created a program that had Montoya running six days a week, with active recovery on the seventh day. "This spring was a juggling act," Montoya says of a season that included coaching the Hillmen football team, hernia surgery – and getting COVID-19. "I was one of the most safe people there was; sure enough, I still got it," he says. Montoya overcame those obstacles and worked up to two 100-mile peak weeks, plus several runs of 30 miles plus. He says the key is a hard balance of not over-training while executing the game plan. "I'm an entirely different person because of it," he says. "Every sport has its own challenges and state of mental toughness, but there's nothing like running." With his plate overflowing, Montoya had the support of wife Megan. They're the parents of two daughters and a son, ages 7, 5 and 1. "Luckily, my wife's been a trooper and bought in," he says. Runner against the clock Montoya has picked the brains of several Western States experts: five-time champion Tim Twietmeyer, Scott Wolfe and Thornley, "all these guys who have run this and know what they're doing," he says. Montoya has run every section of the course and believes he knows it well. "There's no section I don't love," he says. "You have to approach each section differently: the first 30 miles in the high country, down in the canyons you deal with the heat, Foresthill, got to get to the river, and the last 20 home you have 80 miles on your legs. And you're in the dark. I'm going to enjoy every single second of it." He plans to take in all the festivities Thursday. "This is the Boston Marathon of ultras," Montoya says. "To know I'm in and the journey it's taken, the support I've had over the years, the people I've run and trained with, it's just gonna make it a special thing. The ultra community, they're kind, they want to see you do well. The best part of ultra running is the only person you're racing is the clock. You're racing yourself and going for your best personal record."