It didn’t take long for the first New England resident to be selected for the 2024 Western States Endurance Run. The wait lasted just one pick.

By the time the lottery was finished, 10 New England residents had seen their names added to the starting field and three more were on the waitlist. None of them have previously run Western States.

Pete McHugh of Northfield, Vt., was the first runner selected in the lottery on Saturday, Dec. 2, at the Placer High School gymnasium in Auburn, Calif. McHugh was in the lottery for the sixth straight year, and he will finally get his chance to run the United States’ original 100-mile trail ultramarathon when the 51st edition of the race takes place June 29-30, 2024, starting in Olympic Valley, Calif., and finishing on the Placer High School track.

McHugh was the first of 267 names to be selected for the 2024 starting field, followed by another 75 names for the waitlist. By the time the lottery began, 84 runners were already entered in the field for the 2024 race thanks to top-10 finishes at the 2023 race, deferrals from 2023, earning Golden Tickets from top finishes at specific races, or being given coveted positions in the field by their sponsors. One New Englander was among those who didn’t have to wait to have their name selected in the lottery. Katie Schide of Gardiner, Maine, was the women’s runner-up in 2023 when she and first-place female Courtney Dauwalter both broke the course record. Schide earned her way into the 2024 race with her strong showing in 2023.

For those who had to try their luck in the lottery, the odds were stacked against them. The 9,389 lottery entrants for the 2024 race was the largest since Western States first held a lottery in 2000. This year’s lottery pool was 2,230 runners greater than the previous record pool of 7,169 last year. Included among those hopefuls were 181 New England residents. Although the Western States lottery is the day that dashes dreams of most of its applicants, it was a pretty good day for New Englanders.

Moments after McHugh was selected for the starting field, he was joined by Shaun Daylor of Lakeville, Mass. Daylor was in the lottery for the eighth straight year, and he was selected seventh. Jeremy Scanlan of Worcester, Mass., was in the lottery for the sixth year in a row, and he was selected 50th. Shortly after, Sarah Slater of Guilford, Conn., was selected 72nd, making it into Western States on her fifth try. She was the lone Connecticut resident selected. Peter Lawson was the second and final Vermont resident selected. The Burlington resident was in the lottery for the seventh straight year, and he was chosen 82nd.

While Daylor’s eight-year wait ended quickly with a top-10 draw, Russell Dresher’s eight-year wait lasted just a bit longer but finally ended. Dresher, of Berlin, Mass., was the 127th runner selected in the lottery. Eight picks later, John Sherback of North Easton, Mass., was selected with the 135th runner selected, ending his four-year wait. Todd Curtis of Great Barrington, Mass., was selected on his third try with the 153rd spot in the field. Wayne Chan of Westborough, Mass., was selected 222nd, ending a six-year effort to get into the race. Eli Burakian of Brownsville, Vt., was the final New England resident selected. Burakian was in the lottery for the seventh straight year, and his name was selected 236th.

At least two former New England residents were also among those selected for the starting field. Former Massachusetts residents Matt Elam and Bogie Dumitrescu – both now living in Boulder, Colo. – were selected 200th and 235th overall. It will be Elam’s first time running Western States. Dumitrescu previously finished Western States in 2012.

Three more New England residents were selected for the 75-runner waitlist. Durgesh Mankekar of Medford, Mass., was the 47th name selected; Harry Mattison of Allston, Mass.; was the 55th name drawn; and Bruce Dailey of Monson, Maine, was the 70th name drawn for the waitlist. Mankekar was in the lottery for the second year, Mattison for the sixth, and Dailey for the seventh.

Though all six New England states had lottery applicants this year, both Rhode Island and New Hampshire were shut out and Maine has just one hopeful near the end of the waitlist. Massachusetts had the most applicants with 97, followed by Connecticut with 26, Vermont with 20, New Hampshire with 17, Rhode Island with 11 and Maine with 10.