so im contemplating on speedrunning SMW but im not entirely sure which category i want to pursue. so my question is this...is there a category for after going through the star world special stages like gnarly and whatnot and going into the otherworld where the goombas are pumpkins...is there a sppedrun category for that?

I guess you mean 96 Exit, That's basically all the exits in the game so you must go through Star and Special worlds, then back to the overworld to complete the rest of the route/game. A more completed 96 Exit would be Lunar Dragon which is 96 Exit plus the Dragon Coins and the 3-up Moons.

you could try 22 star, it goes through special world fairly early. though it doesn't beat bowser if that matters to you

sry, what is 22 star?

22 star is a category extension where you get all 22 unique stars in the game.

here is a link to the leader board for it: https://www.speedrun.com/smwext#22_Star

Oh ok thank you everybody..I may try running the 96 exit... but before I start speedrunning I need to get good at the game again lol....I haven't played it for many years and I used to be really good