On 27 June, Jenn Lichter lined up for her first 100-mile race, the Western States 100.
asserted
Lichter → line → race
The oldest and most prestigious 100-miler in the world, Western States attracts a highly competitive field from around the globe – the athletes run across the Sierra Nevada from Olympic Valley to Auburn, California.
asserted
athletes → attract → Auburn
Despite 18,000ft of climbing and daytime temperatures often flirting with triple digits, Lichter went in confident.
asserted
Lichter → flirt → digits
“I wanted to win, there was no secret to that,” she says.
asserted
she → want → that
“That’s just who I am.”
asserted
I → ’ → ?
The race remained close for the first half, until the 30-year-old made a move on the climb to Devil’s Thumb.
asserted
old → remain → Thumb
The gap grew and at the final aid station, Lichter had a sizable lead over the athlete in second place.
asserted
Lichter → grow → place
A mile from the finish, Nick Cornell, Lichter’s fiance, told her she was just ahead of the course record.
asserted
she → tell → record
“That was the first I had heard about it,” Lichter says.
asserted
Lichter → hear → it
“He knew my competitive side would jump at the challenge.”
asserted
side → know → challenge
Lichter sprinted the final mile down the streets of Auburn and on to the Placer High track, breaking the tape in 15 hours 28 minutes 5 seconds, 88 seconds faster than Courtney Dauwalter’s previous course record.
asserted
Lichter → sprint → record
Before 2026, only one woman had come within 50 minutes of Dauwalter’s time, making the record seem nearly unbreakable to most fans.
asserted
record → come → fans
Two months later, Lichter is only just putting that moment into perspective.
asserted
Lichter → put → perspective
“It took a while to process,” Lichter says.
asserted
Lichter → take → while
“It’s only hitting as I’m wrapping up the season and have the time to look back and realize what I did.
asserted
I → hit → what
It’s like summiting one of the most beautiful peaks in the world and at first you can’t fully understand what you’re seeing.”
asserted
you → ’ → what
Lichter’s road to that record-shattering win was far from traditional.
asserted
road → shatter → win
She was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and at two years old she was picked up by childcare services and placed in an orphanage, along with her older brother and younger sister.
asserted
she → bear → brother
Her father had been shot and killed while involved with drug cartels and her mother struggled with addiction, leaving the children to fend for themselves on the streets.
asserted
mother → shoot → streets
“Life in the orphanage was very regimented,” Lichter says.
asserted
Lichter → say → orphanage
When you’re a kid, you don’t know better.”
asserted
you → ’re → ?
Lichter’s mom would visit on the weekends, while trying to get back on her feet.
asserted
mom → visit → feet
When Lichter was seven, she and her siblings, Harold and Kim, were moved to an orphanage that worked to get them adopted together.
asserted
them → move → orphanage
“Despite the circumstances, we were happy and a big reason for that is we had each other,” she says.
asserted
she → have → other
“That kept our mental state intact and made the whole experience less frightening.
asserted
experience → keep → state
From birth, we’ve felt attached at the hip.
asserted
we → feel → hip
Like twins, we can feel each other’s emotions.
asserted
we → feel → emotions
Our souls are intertwined.”
asserted
souls → intertwine → ?
Through those years, Lichter also learned how to rely on herself to get through challenges.
asserted
Lichter → learn → challenges
“If shit ever hits the fan, I just pick myself up and dust myself off and continue on,” she says.
asserted
she → hit → myself
“Life can be hard but it doesn’t mean you have to succumb to it.
asserted
you → mean → it
Hardships never last for ever.”
asserted
Hardships → last → ?
When she was nine, Lichter and her siblings were adopted by a family in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on the banks of the Mississippi.
asserted
Lichter → adopt → Mississippi
She only knew a handful of English words – hello and goodbye, water, a few colors – so her adopted parents hired a bilingual nanny to help translate, carried a dictionary everywhere they went and covered the house in sticky notes with Spanish words and their English equivalent together, to help the kids learn the new language.
asserted
kids → know → language
The biggest culture shock for Lichter was the freedom she suddenly had.
asserted
she → have → Lichter
“I remember thinking, what do you mean we can have a snack whenever we want?
asserted
we → remember → snack
Go outside whenever we want?
asserted
we → go → ?
Have a toy that’s not communal?
asserted
that → have → toy
The little, simple things that most people take for granted were everything to us.”
asserted
people → take → us
Her new life was much more freeing than her time in the orphanage – going out to restaurants, road trips, and meeting new friends – but it came with challenges.
asserted
it → go → challenges
…and 45 more, not listed.
The Aporia
