Renowned ultrarunner Courtney Dauwalter hasn’t decided which trail races she’ll run in 2027, but she will be back to chasing a new marathon PR and a U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying mark this fall. And she might have an Ironman triathlon on her schedule next year.
It’s all part of a quest to keep pushing her perceived limits and pushing through what she calls “the pain cave” in different endurance pursuits. While the Colorado-based runner has achieved most of her success in 100- to 250-mile races, she switched things up last fall and ran two road marathons that saw her lower her personal best to 2:49:54 at the Twin Cities Marathon last October and then down to 2:38:55 at the California International Marathon in early December. She was so inspired and intrigued by her experience running CIM with a pack of fast women who were chasing the U.S.
Olympic Trials qualifying standard of 2:37:00 that she’s heading back to do it again on December 6. She was on pace to hit 2:37 in the first half of CIM last year (1:18:33), but slowed slightly in the second half (1:20:22) and missed the qualifying mark by less than two minutes. I also loved just the momentum of that women's pack going for the OTQ.
I've never run in a pack like that, and being part of it last year was really, really beautiful. It's insane what you can do in a pack like that versus what you could do by yourself. If you can hold onto the momentum of all that positive forward motion, it's amazing how much faster you can run.
It’s super inspiring.” Dauwalter, 41, spent part of last week training in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, before the Ironman World Championship on October 10. She wasn’t there on a tropical vacation, but instead was there on behalf of her main sponsor, Salomon, which is taking over as the title sponsor of the race in 2027. She said it’s very likely that she’ll try an Ironman next year, even though the thought of doing a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and running a 26.2-mile marathon in one fell swoop is still a bit daunting.
She knows she can handle the distance on the bike and the run, but she admits the open-water swim makes her a little nervous. While she might start dabbling in triathlons next spring, for now, her sights are firmly set on making a serious run at the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying mark in the marathon.
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