Ultrarunner Jared Hazen said he wanted to take some chances at the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run in California.

That plan paid off on Saturday as Hazen, 20, of Colorado Springs, finished third in the famous race from Squaw Valley to Auburn. He clocked in at 15 hours, 37 minutes, 55 seconds, improving his time from the previous year by 1:53.

Hazen ran among the leaders throughout the day, but with six miles to go and a podium spot hanging in the balance, he found himself in a shoulder-to-shoulder showdown with Gediminas Grinius of Lithuania.

We posted Hazen’s pre-race interview last week, and figured a follow-up was in order. Here’s how the day went down for the tough runner now known as the Cosmic Kid.   

Tell us about the moment when you knew things were going your way. I think really after 62 miles. I had moved into third shortly after that. I was feeling pretty good at the time. Just that last 38 miles ended up going really well. I had a couple of people come up on me, one (Thomas Lorblanshet) with 20 miles left. I was able to pull away from him. And then (Grinius) with six miles left. It was pretty exciting. It felt good to be challenged and pull it off.

You had put in 94 miles in 90-degree-plus heat, and then you had to run hard the last six miles to earn the podium. So it was like there was a climb to Hwy 49 aid station, with 6.5 miles left. I had been running well the previous 20 miles. I was hiking a bit of that climb and didn’t know how far he was back, or who was behind me. And just as I was leaving the aid station he was coming in. I was like, you have to be kidding me. I though, this is ridiculous, just when I thought I had third locked up. I picked up a pacer (longtime friend Jeff Nelson) there and told him to sit behind me and give me some space, I’m going to try to break him. I ran hard out of the aid station and he (Grinius) caught me like a mile later and passed me. I just sat on his butt for the next three miles. We got to the No Hands Bridge aid station.  There were about three miles left. Just after the bridge I felt like he had slowed up just a tad. I made my move there and ran really hard for a half-mile flat section. And then there is a 1.5-mile climb and I cranked up that climb as hard as I could. By the time I got to the climb I had a pretty good gap on him. I just kept it rolling as hard as possible to the finish and edged him out by a few minutes.

Did you talk to him at all? Not during the race. It was pretty intense. It was all business. It was exciting. I’d never really had an experience like that late in a race.

So what does your body really feel like after 100 miles? After the race I was trashed. I needed people to help walk me to the car. I threw up a little bit. I was pretty worthless. Since then I’ve come around pretty well. Feeling good. I could have run yesterday and today (Tuesday) … I haven’t, but recovery is going well.

You run onto the track at the finish in Auburn, you’re third at Western States, describe that feeling. It was unbelievable, a ton of emotions, relief. Just stoked to have it finally all come together on such a big stage. It’s hard to do. You can always put in the training, but to really make it all come together that day is not always easy.

When did you start thinking about this year’s Western States? So last year after I ran Western States I knew I wanted to come back. Tried to do that (qualify for WS100) at the beginning of year at Bandara (100K) and didn’t get in. Then I managed to get in at Lake Sonoma (50 miler), the last qualifying race for Western States. I took third there and that was kind of a stepping stone for me. It showed that I can race at a higher level than I had in the past. Ever since Lake Sanoma I had it in my head that Western States was going to be my race this year. And I trained super hard for it. And race day all I could think about was finishing in top five. I wanted to hit this one really hard to see what I could do. To take third was about as well as it could have gone.

Especially considering how well the top two guys were running. Especially Rob (Krar, who win in 14:48:59). What he did … two minutes short of the course record. And how hot it was on that day. It was just unbelievable to think he ran 50 minutes faster than I did.

How did you deal with the heat? I did pretty well with it. I slammed as much water as possible. That was important. About 40 miles in I got in a little bit of a hole with dehydration. But I was able to turn that around. Just every aid station, getting wet and staying cool. It wasn’t like a crazy hot year, high of 91 in Auburn. Some of the canyons probably got into the 100s. But it was hot early in the race. Usually it’s pretty cool. So I was feeling it in the first 20-30 miles. It was already getting hot. You could see it in the results, a lot of people dropped.

After miles of running in the heat, you have to swim across the American River. What is that like? It was miserable, I had the same experience last year. When I got out of the water my legs were on the verge of cramping and everything hurts more when it’s cold. So my feet and legs were just throbbing until they warmed up again.

So you are on the record saying that you like to fuel up with Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies. How many did you eat? I ate no Cosmic Brownies. I couldn’t find any in California.

But you still have the new nickname, you good with it? Yeah, the Cosmic Kid. That’s a good one.

What else went right for you? Nutrition is always huge. I ate a Honey Stinger waffle every 45 minutes and I had no issues at all. I couldn’t believe my stomach held up. I ate a Honey Stinger 30 minutes before the finish. So that and lots of hydrating. Lots of water and Scratch Labs. I ended up being able to hold on when things got tough. There were definitely a couple times that I thought maybe I bit off more than I could chew, cause I did start pretty aggressive compared to what I’ve been doing in the past. I feel like it was a fine line, maybe doing too much, but I was able to ride it out.

You were on the edge for lots of miles. Yeah definitely. Kind of the last 20 I was questioning, am I going to be able to hang on or will I get swallowed up by the field?

You were among the leaders most of the time, when did you move into contention for the podium? I was pretty much in fifth place for most of the race until Mile 62. I passed Thomas (Lorblanshet) from France. About 10 miles later I passed Francois (Dhaene) - and he wasn’t looking too good – that put me in third. From there Thomas came back and I was able to fend him off, and Grinius came up on HWY 94. He definitely closed pretty hard there.

Any bites from new sponsors? Some small things. Some of them I’m not interested in the product. But I’m definitely hoping and kind of expecting getting a shoe company here. And getting some legitimate support and being able to make a little bit of money.