You might expect the only person to even win ultrarunning's Triple Crown would have achieved the feat thanks to a strict training plan and a coach's guidance. Courtney Dauwalter has neither. The Guardian profiles the 38-year-old runner, who has done what no other ultrarunner has done and then some: In 2023 she won the three most challenging and prestigious 100-mile races in the world: Western States 100, Hardrock 100, and the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc. Kilian Jornet is the only other ultrarunner who has won all three across his career. And Dauwalter's feats went beyond the Triple Crown in the 2023 season: She started with a win at the Transgrancanaria 126k this February, took the Mount Fuji 100 in April, and won the Hardrock 100 again in July.
Dauwalter fills Andy Cochrane in on her less-than-traditional training approach: "After I wake up, I have two cups of coffee and go through an informal full body assessment. Where's my head? How are my feet? How are my lungs and what is my stress level?" From there, she goes with her gut, making spur-of-the-moment decisions about the makeup of the day's run. She eats candy and drinks beer. But there is one thing she is extremely disciplined about: visiting "the pain cave" during races—never during practices—a place Cochrane describes as "the mental place she goes when she reaches her physical limit. She visualizes an actual cave, walks in, picks up a chisel, and starts chipping away. If needed, she'll stay in the cave for hours." She pictures the same cave every race, and returns to the spot where she was last chiseling. (Read the full story.)
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