Courtney Dauwalter continues to cement her trail running legacy after triple crown
The ultra-marathon superstar shows no signs of slowing down after historic summer in 2023
It is the end of August and ultra-marathon superstar Courtney Dauwalter is back in Chamonix, France for the first time since achieving trail running’s iconic triple crown, a year ago.
This time, she is not at the starting line of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB), instead her schedule includes media interviews, film screening, casual runs with members of the public and cheering on fellow runners - beginning a 100 mile route through three countries, boasting a 9,915m elevation gain.
An ultra-marathon is defined as any race longer than 26.2 miles, but Dauwalter’s conquests tend to be between 100 to 250 miles. “I’m so curious about what’s possible, and physically curious what our bodies can do, but really more curious about the mental side of it, how our brains help us overcome hard things and keep pushing forward,” the American says.
“My way of exploring that is through ultra running and that just means coming up with the craziest ideas I can think of and something that sounds too hard, that’s the one I want to go after because that’s where we get to actually push and stretch ourselves to be better. Even if we miss the mark along the way.”
In the summer of 2023, Dauwalter made history as the first person to win three prestigious 100 mile races, in the same year; the Western States 100, Hardrock 100 and UTMB, dubbed the triple crown.
Following that extraordinary achievement, Dauwalter shows no signs of slowing down. Her 2024 wins include the Swisspeaks 70 km title in September, a second Hardrock 100 win in July, a Mt Fuji 100 mile title in April, and a second Transgrancanaria Classic 100 mile win in February.
On a sunny Friday, past midday we settled down for an interview in the garden of a Chamonix chalet with the snow-capped peaks of Mont Blanc - the highest mountain in Europe’s tallest mountain towering above us.
Dressed in a black t-shirt, knee-length dark green shorts and her signature lime, black and white running shoes, the 39-year-old starts off by apologising for her “sweaty and shabby” appearance, adding that she has just returned from a community run. I assure her that I am equally sweaty given the temperature is around 30 degrees celsius (86 Fahrenheit) and we both break into a hearty laugh.
The hobby that turned into a record-breaking career
Minnesota born Dauwalter competed in track, cross-country and Nordic skiing while in high school. She later ventured into trail running while still working as a science teacher, but was curious about what life could look like if she committed to trail running full-time.
The decision to pursue trail running came after a series of conversations with her husband Kevin Schmidt where they discussed what life could be like in their 90s and how it was important to not have regrets when reflecting back.
“It felt to us like in order to answer that question of ‘what could happen if I went all in on ultra running,’ I should just go all in on ultra running and see. But it wasn’t like a career shift. I was just leaving a career to chase a hobby full on because it wasn’t a job at that point,” she says.
“We just figured we should take this side road for a second and see what’s on it. We knew that we could always come back to the main road. But it was like, if we don’t turn here and see we’re gonna wonder about it. So let’s risk it and check it out.”
The risk paid off for the Leadville, Colorado resident.
Dauwalter transitioned into full-time ultra running in 2017 and in the same year went on to have a breakout moment winning Moab 240 - a 240 mile race which takes place in Utah. She won the race 10 hours ahead of all other competitors - male or female - an unbelievable achievement.
Building on that momentum, she went on to win her first Western States 100 title in 2018, followed up with UTMB wins in 2019 and 2021, Hardrock 100 and Diagonale des Fours titles in 2022.
The records keep tumbling
By 2023, Dauwalter had long-cemented her status as the Queen of ultra running but that summer she took her legendary status to a whole new level. On June 24, she obliterated the Western States 100 course record, winning the women’s race in 15:29:33, 77 minutes and 46 seconds ahead of the previous record which had been in place for 11 years.
Three weeks later on July 14, Dauwalter broke yet another record, winning Hardrock 100 in 26:14:08 - an hour and four minutes faster than the previous best.
She wasn’t done yet. On September 2, she completed a historic treble by crossing the UTMB finish line in Chamonix to win the women’s race in 23:29:14, becoming the first person to win the triple crown in the same calendar year.
“I was surprised that I finished them all, really,” Dauwalter says reflecting on her triple crown success. “[It’s] a lesson that our expectations we set for ourselves are always too low. And so I’m reminded to level those up because it didn’t feel possible even in some moments during the races.
“You know it was never for me about the records or even winning the three races,” Dauwalter says. “It was, can I finish them, what does it look like to complete these 100 mile races with such short recovery in between. And so that provided a really cool opportunity to try and grow myself through that process.”
Mastering the ‘The Pain Cave’ and defying science
By capturing the iconic triple crown in 70 days, Dauwalter shattered long-held perceptions on ultra running recovery times, the diets needed to perform at peak levels and the mindset required to push the body well beyond known limits.
Behind her infectious smile and easy going personality, is an unwavering commitment to mental strength and growth. ‘The Pain Cave’,- a visual that Dauwalter constructed in her head when her legs felt like they could no longer carry her, was once a place she dreaded and simply tried to survive.
But following a mindset shift, she has transformed ‘The Pain Cave’ into a positive and enjoyable experience.
When the going gets tough, she visualises herself picking up an imaginary chisel, entering a cave in her mind and chiselling away at the back wall. The idea is that her physical pain is then transformed into a productive exercise that increases her resilience.
“Entering The Pain Cave is what I am aiming for every time I am on the starting line,” she tells the audience at a Chamonix theatre, following the screening of “A Team Sport,” a film about her triple crown journey produced by Salomon TV.
“Once I get there, I celebrate that I have this opportunity to make myself better by going all the way in, chipping off that back wall and making my capacity for struggling and suffering a little bit bigger for the next time,” she says.
Dauwalter credits the joy she gets from exploring her physical and mental capabilities through ‘The Pain Cave’ as her motivation for continuing to run. “I want to see how much further back the cave goes and what else I can discover back there.”
No coach, no problem
Remarkably, Dauwalter has accomplished her greatest feats without having a coach. Instead, she draws on her lessons from her coaches in earlier years in cross-country and skiing for the basics and gets a lot of joy from figuring things out herself when it comes to ultra running.
“Not having a coach gives me puzzle pieces to make mistakes, fix them, try something different, maybe do okay for a second, then make another mistake. I love the process of it all and so I’ve just stuck with it through my whole ultra running career” she says.
Dauwalter’s unconventional approach to ultra running is also evident in how she fuels her high-performing body. She loves eating pizza before races and enjoys beers, nachos and candy post-races. She also acknowledges that she does not have a professional mental health practitioner to help her with her career.
Instead she leans into her support system of friends and family - her team.
Dauwalter sees ultra running as a team sport with her husband Schmidt an integral part. “We are a team for sure. It’s my feet covering the distance but Kevin is part of every single finish line as well.
“Practically, he’s the best crew around, knows me and our systems very well, and I can trust in all that. But emotionally and mentally, just knowing his belief in me, in those hardest moments is so helpful. I feel this invisible hand helping to push forward even if I’m all by myself in the mountains,” she says.
Reflecting back on her magical summer of 2023, Dauwalter describes UTMB as the highlight of her life. Not because of the actual race or the fact that clinched the third title on that course, but because she experienced it all with her family.
In addition to the ever-present Schmidt, her parents, brother and sister-in-law were in Chamonix for the first time during race week. “Seeing them out on the course, the hugs with them at the finish line and getting to share this whole experience with them was so special,” she says.
“When I think of last summer it’s less about the three individual races and it’s more about the whole package of the summer. The journey of trying this thing that sounded impossible and committing to it made for the coolest summer of making memories with people while pushing myself more than I thought I could.
“Now in the reel of memories in my head, all of that sits so high and not at all because of the race. But because of the path I got to take and the people I got share it with, that’s the coolest part of it all.”
For all her remarkable achievements, Dauwalter remains humble and exudes a distinctive warmth and joyfulness, rarely seen in high-achieving athletes. She credits her support system for helping her to stay grounded.
“Who we surround ourselves with, the people in our lives is really important. And the people in my life, they support what I am doing, they want to help me get to the finish lines but I am also just Courtney.
“When we hang out we’re not talking about the running time I got or didn’t get. So I think being surrounded by those types of people is helpful in remembering that running is amazing and I love it so much, competing is a fun thing that I am doing. But life is about more than that. Being a good person and making memories with the people in our lives is number one on my mind.”
With the rollercoaster of emotions experienced with her team during the summer of 2023, it is only in returning to Chamonix now that Dauwalter has been able to process what really happened.
“After, every race that summer, I had to move on very quickly to get ready for the next one and then by the end I was exhausted. So processing didn’t happen as well. So it’s great to come back and get good closure of that section of a chapter,” she says.
The hype around Shortney’s
Dauwalter is a self-confessed ‘lover of long inseams,’ opting for long length shorts during training and races. So it was unsurprising that in May 2023, she co-created the Shortney shorts with Salomon, her sponsor. But these bright coloured, light weight, long-format shorts have taken on a life of their own.
On social media, there are debates about why she wears long shorts. As a former basketball player, I tell her how surprised I was to see these questions about her shorts since I just assumed that it was a matter of preference and comfort.
“I have always preferred longer shorts and when you are doing something that’s already uncomfortable in a lot of ways, we should be wearing the things that make us feel the most comfortable which leads to feeling confident,” she says.
“It creates just good energy if you’re not having to fidget with some material thing you’re wearing and then you can focus on what you’re actually doing.”
Dauwalter hopes that her journey will inspire someone and drive them a step closer towards achieving that crazy goal they have set their heart on, whether it is ultra running or something else.
“It would feel special to play a little part of nudging a domino over for people. I hope they can look at me and see someone who tried something they didn’t think they could do and succeeded anyway.
“I hope to remind people that we can be working really hard and going after something with everything we’ve got but that can be fun. We can have fun even in the struggle of going after the most difficult things,” she adds.
Towards the end of our interview, Dauwalter asks if I will be following the UTMB race which gets underway that evening. I tell her that Salomon has arranged for cars to shuttle us - members of their invited media - through the night from Chamonix to Italy, then Switzerland and back to the finish line by lunchtime the next day.
Her face lights up and she places her right hand over her heart and says, “You will feel it here. There is nothing like UTMB. I hope to see you afterwards so you can tell me all about it.”
As we say our goodbyes, I am struck by how authentic our interaction was. “I want to give you a hug, but I stink,” she says. Without hesitation, I lean in and we embrace - a wholesome moment which I later learn was captured on my camera.
