Courtney Dauwalter (born February 13, 1985) is an American ultramarathon runner.

Early life

Dauwalter was raised in

Hopkins, Minnesota Hopkins is a small suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, located west of Minneapolis. Hopkins was the headquarters of Minneapolis-Moline, which was a large manufacturer of tractors and agricultural equipment in the United ...

and competed in track, cross-country, and nordic skiing in high school. She was a four-time Minnesota state champion in nordic skiing during her high school career. She attended the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

on a cross-country skiing scholarship, and then earned a master's degree in teaching from the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

in 2010 while participating in the Mississippi Teacher Corps. Dauwalter worked as a middle and high-school teacher in the

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

area before becoming a full-time professional runner in 2017.

Ultrarunning

In 2016, Dauwalter set a course record at the Javelina Jundred 100K and won the Run Rabbit Run 100-mile race, finishing 75 minutes ahead of second place. She also won the 2017 Run Rabbit Run while battling temporary blindness when running the final 12 miles. Dauwalter won the 2017 edition of the Moab 240 race in 2 days, 9 hours, and 59 minutes, finishing first overall and beating the second-place finisher by more than 10 hours. In 2018, Dauwalter won the

Western States Endurance Run The Western States Endurance Run, known commonly as the Western States 100, is a 100.2-mile (161 km) ultramarathon that takes place on California's Sierra Nevada Mountains trails each year on the last full weekend of June. The race starts ...

, a 100-mile race, with a finishing time of 17h27m. This was the second-fastest time by a woman in the race. Dauwalter competed in the Big's Backyard Ultra in 2018, finishing second overall and completing a total of 67 laps, setting the women's course record at 279.268 miles. She also placed second in the Tahoe 200, beating the previous women's course record by over 18 hours. Dauwalter was named Ultra Runner of the Year in 2018 by Ultrarunning Magazine after winning 9 of the 12 races that she entered, including two where she finished first overall. In 2019, Dauwalter won the

Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) is a single-stage mountain ultramarathon, first held in 2003, that follows the route of the Tour du Mont Blanc. Since UTMB Group's partnership with IRONMAN Group in 2021, UTMB World Series will formally launch ...

in a time of 24 h 34 min 26 sec, coming in 21st overall. She also competed in the 2019 edition of the

Western states The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

, but dropped after 77 miles. Dauwalter competed for the United States at the IAU 24 Hour World Championship in Brive-la-Gaillarde,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in October 2019, finishing 12th. In 2020, Dauwalter won the American section of Big Dog's Ultra. She ran 68 laps for 283.3 miles for a finish time of 56 hours, 52 minutes, and 29 seconds. She set the record for the longest distance recorded by a female runner in the race. Dauwalter is sponsored by Salomon. She is known for wearing looser shirts and baggy

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

-style shorts while running, which is uncommon among elite ultramarathoners. In 2020, Dauwalter received th
George Mallory Award
for pushing the boundaries of physical human achievement.

Selected race results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dauwalter, Courtney Living people American female ultramarathon runners 1985 births 21st-century American women