Courtney Dauwalter is 41, Sooner, and Having Extra Enjoyable Than Ever

I can consider exactly one time I’ve spoken with Courtney Dauwalter when she wasn’t flashing her dazzling smile. It was on the end line of UTMB in 2023. She had simply notched her third 100-mile win in two months and her lips have been purple. It was a brief chat.

Today she’s again to her radiant self, beaming by the pc display from throughout Colorado. I’m catching her close to the top of her prep for yet one more ultramarathon, the Cocodona 250, on May 4. She kicked off the morning with a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and two cups of espresso earlier than heading out to the storage to do her day by day half-hour of pre-run activations, in silence. Next got here a run along with her husband, Kevin; power work; and one other run, solo, earlier than spending a while of their spanking new sauna. It’s 3 p.m.

Lots has modified since that end line in Chamonix, and even since a uncommon DNF at Cocodona final yr. She went on to eek out the win on the Laverado 100K in June, and appeared effectively on her option to securing her third dub at UTMB—till, in uncharacteristically Courtney trend, the wheels fell off and he or she walked it in for tenth place with a decided smile. A short respite, and he or she was in her street marathoning period, operating a private greatest 2:49 on the Twin Cities Marathon in October and decreasing that to 2:39 on the California International Marathon in December.

We’re right here to speak about ultra-ultrarunning, I suppose, however I’m significantly intrigued by the marathoning bit. After what was, by her requirements, a tricky yr on the paths, why would the best ultrarunner of all time—somebody who’s eschewed a coach, coaching plan, and numbers all through her profession—put herself on the market in what is actually a overseas, extremely data-driven sport?

For these of us vulnerable to narrativize, pounding the pavement appears too dangerous, with not sufficient glory. While 2:39 is a really respectable time, it’s removed from world class. But the concentrate on footspeed appeared to repay. In March, Courtney blew by Cocodona defending champ Rachel Entrekin and tremendous speedy Yngvild Kaspersen over the ultimate hour of the Chianti Ultra-Trail 120K to take the win in a race she had entered just some days prior.

Or possibly it was the fueling that did the trick.

“Normally in an ultra, I wouldn’t take in any fuel really in the last hour or maybe even two hours depending on how it’s going,” she says. “But in the last section, probably the last 10K of Chianti, I did two gels, which I was pretty psyched on because I was like, ‘Wait, we’re doing it!’”

If 2025 was the yr we questioned whether or not the reign of this now 41-year-old was coming to an finish, 2026 has laid all doubts to relaxation. But what I gleaned from our dialog is that Courtney doesn’t care about narratives or legacy. She additionally doesn’t advocate you are taking her recommendation: “I am making no claims to know anything that should be the secret to anyone’s success.”

She’s a gamer, and this entire operating factor is only one big puzzle. Lucky for her, spending time tinkering with every bit simply makes her higher and higher.

Optimization in Moderation

Courtney and her basketball shorts broke onto the ultrarunning scene in 2016, again when path runners worshipped on the altar of vibes. Mileage? Run as a lot or as little as you need. Carbs? Probably overrated, however you do you. Heat coaching? Maybe sit in your sizzling automobile till you are feeling such as you’re going to move out. Grittiness and problem-solving have been the secret, and it was a sport Courtney nailed.

Meanwhile, the game has jetted towards professionalization and optimization. High carb, bicarb, warmth coaching, cross-training—the record of data-driven coaching modalities being adopted on the pointy finish of the sector are countless. For a runner who’s so clearly pushed by a real love of operating, how, if in any respect, has she come to phrases with this new period?

The street marathon stint supplies a clue.

“Marathon training was so cool,” she says. “I enjoyed it so much and learned a ton through doing it. I was trying to be like a sponge: What are the workouts people are doing? How do I figure out pace? How do I keep trying to strive for a pace that’s a little bit faster? How do I find that speed within my legs? And what does it look like in Colorado at altitude?”

She totally embraced marathon coaching throughout these three months, apart from every week or so main a path operating journey up volcanoes in Ecuador. She dropped her mileage method down, capping her long term at round 17 miles, and method upped the depth, incorporating a number of speedwork periods every week.

“I became really psyched on the data,” she says. “I’ve never looked at my watch more in my life, and I was loving it.”

It’s a stunning about-face for a runner well-known for heading out the door with out a plan and coming house two to eight hours later. But if there’s one factor I’m studying about her on this interview, it’s to not put Courtney Dauwalter in a field.

“It felt like a completely new sport to me after years of ultrarunning,” she says. “I’d love to keep those elements in my training—they’re fun and valuable.”

Joy Is within the Driver’s Seat

That brings us again to ultrarunning. In the pantheon of ultrarunning greats, Courtney is a renegade. Sure, she’s gained all of the Big Important Races like Western States, Hardrock, and UTMB greater than as soon as. In truth she took the gamble of racing (and profitable) them multi function season. But not like, say, Jim Walmsley, Ann Trason, and Scott Jurek, she hasn’t returned to States yr after yr to cement an indomitable legacy. She’s elected to run goofball occasions just like the Moab 240 and Big’s Backyard Ultra—each of which she gained outright—resume be damned.

Those are most definitely my phrases, not hers. But Courtney has such a kingmaker, or ought to I say queenmaker, impact that basically each race she enters turns to gold. Now we view 200-mile races like Cocodona as marquee occasions within the ultrarunning calendar. For her, they’re simply one other journey.

“My hope is always to just be able to say yes to whatever adventure,” she says. “Until I’m 100 and whatever years old, I want to be a person who is always ready.”

Her pleasure compass pointed her to Tenerife Bluetrail 110K, the random UTMB race Courtney was imagined to run in March till a tropical storm pressured race organizers to cancel and he or she bopped over from the island to race in Italy. The Tenerife race goes up and over Mount Teide, a 12,198-foot volcano engulfing the island. It’s a mountain she’s wished to run for years due to observing it from the neighboring island of Gran Canaria whereas on Salomon workforce coaching journeys.

“I’m still intrigued by getting my feet on that mountain, and just the whole concept of crossing an island is always really fun: starting on a beach, ending on a beach with a whole adventure in between.”

Surely, she was additionally motivated to earn her method again into UTMB Mont-Blanc, simply in case she needs to run it in August. (One change she’s made since her historic Triple Crown is barely planning out half a yr of racing at a time—“I think just becoming a little bit more fluid with it since that big year has been helpful in making sure that we’re not burning all the matches all the time.”) But that calendar, or lack thereof, isn’t pushed by making an attempt to win end-of-year awards. It, like all the pieces else, from her basketball shorts and wayfarer sun shades to her coaching, comes all the way down to the identical factor:

“Joy is sitting in the driver’s seat. Joy is driving the car. Joy is in charge, fully.”

Enjoy. Sounds easy. If you’ve ever educated for a 100-mile race, you understand it’s not. Now tack on being the preferred path runner on the planet, and doing these races for a residing. That skill to search out pleasure is one in all her superpowers, and it’s seen in each little choice she makes, like using her bike, as she’s vulnerable to do.

Adding in further cardio work on two wheels is what most runners would name “cross training” or just “training.” And but: “When I’m on the bike, I would never say the word training,” she says. “It’s adding in joy … doing something a little bit different.”

There’s a 7-mile loop the place she mountain bikes with Kevin. He’s a lot quicker, she laughs, whereas she completes the loop slower on two wheels than she does on two toes.

“I just want the wind in my hair and some sunshine.”

The Kevin Factor

Speaking of Kevin, although, I’d be remiss to miss the position he performs in Courtney’s success—as evidenced by her use of the primary particular person plural when speaking about her operating. Not solely does Kevin crew Courtney in any respect of her races, he additionally offloads and optimizes the elements of ultrarunning that she doesn’t love, like journey, logistics, and race spreadsheets, that are conveniently Kevin’s strengths.

“Our brains are very, very different, so things that I find tedious or overwhelming he is just locked in on,” she says. “He just knocks it out in a pro way.”

Before a race, Kevin figures out what every part of the course seems like, tasks Courtney’s splits, and comes up with a diet gameplan based mostly on the terrain, time of day, and historic splits from Courtney and others. He’s remarkably correct. “Post-race we’ll look and it’ll be like, you basically predicted all of these splits,” she says.

This logistical work can also be a large psychological burden off her shoulders.

“I’m very thankful for him and just having him as a partner and teammate through all of this for my entire going through ultras is pretty special.”

Curiosity Is within the Passenger’s Seat

Joy is crucial piece to the puzzle, however the former center faculty science trainer additionally clearly likes to study.  I feel that’s how she tips herself into doing issues she won’t assume she would inherently love, like power coaching. That’s one thing she by no means did till hip ache pressured her to DNF Western States in 2019.

That damage was a wakeup name that power work was an enormous alternative for progress. And, she would say, progress is enjoyable! She began working with a power coach, who carried out the 30-minute pre-run activation routine, in addition to common power exercises.

“It’s like this whole world,” she says. “I can actually feel the difference when I run.”

This method extends to her new sauna and entering into warmth coaching, and likewise fueling.

Lately, she’s been impressed by the excessive carb motion and is pushing herself to gas extra—however in a method solely Courtney can. “It’s not as fun of a number for me to obsess on,” she says. “So I’m not as keen on trying to hit 80 or some amount of carbs per hour. I’ve just been trying to take in one more thing than I think I can.  Because I think I previously was more on the low side and I’m seeing that it could be a growth area. Just more fuel in the tank.”

For races beneath 24 hours, she retains it easy: gels, chews, drink mixes, “stuff that I don’t have to think about … just ingesting this fuel as quickly as possible.” It will get wonkier over the 24-hour mark, like at Cocodona. “I’m still fully open to whatever sounds good,” she says. “Mashed potatoes or pizza or pancakes, all of those are going to be options that will be ready to utilize if need be.”

Her fueling plan for a 200-plus mile race is an apt metaphor for her method to the game usually: “It all is just a fun experiment on myself,” she says, “a fun game and puzzle to play with. I’m just really open to seeing what’s possible.”

And with that, it’s time for Courtney to show her consideration to dinner. I’m curious what’s on the menu.

“We’re kind of on the last gasps of what’s in our fridge,” she says. “This is actually where I shine … in these last bits of Tupperware. You can make anything out of whatever’s in the fridge.”