Ultramarathoner Courtney Dauwalter redefined her sport. Now she’s taking on the Twin Cities Marathon

Back in her Hopkins High School days, Courtney Dauwalter was once spotted goofing off with her ski teammates. She was behind the school, in the snow, using fruit punch to make snow cones.

On the course, she was someone else entirely. Dauwalter skied her way to four individual Minnesota state championships and shared team state titles, including as a girls cross-country runner.

“Once she realized she could win these things, she didn’t want to lose — ever,” said Randy Gibbs, her Nordic coach at the time.

Fast forward almost 25 years, and Dauwalter’s drive has manifested in an outsized way: She is one of the best ultramarathon trail runners ever. She dominates a grueling sport where participants run for 15 hours to cover 100 miles or more over mountains and other wilderness landscapes.

She has done it all with flair, right down to her baggy shorts that inspired a clothing line called “Shortneys.”

Dauwalter, who now lives in Leadville, Colo., sees any event as an opportunity to test herself in new ways. On Sunday, that opportunity is the Twin Cities Marathon. Her entry into the field has brought excitement to the marathon unlike any other athlete has in recent years.

“I have no idea how the marathon is going to go,” she said last week of her homecoming, “but that [uncertainty] is a driver I want to see and play around with.”

In the summer of 2023 alone, Dauwalter won three consecutive, prestigious 100-milers (Western States, Hardrock 100 and Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, aka UTMB) – two with course records. No other trail runner has come close to matching Dauwalter’s triple.

Her course record at the Western States (15 hours, 29 minutes) stirred memories of past marks that were thought unbreakable. One was by another Minnesota native, Scott Jurek, a pioneer in the ultra world who grew up in Proctor and in 2004 finished the Western States in 15:36.

Trail-running journalist Alex Kurt likened Dauwalter to other groundbreaking athletes, including swimming’s Katie Ledecky and track’s Usain Bolt, whose feats set the bar even higher.

“She hasn’t just been dominant at the 100-mile-plus distance, she’s completely reset what we thought was possible,” Kurt said. “She did so after the sport had become deeper and more competitive than it was in its earlier days.”

Brittany Peterson, an ultramarathoner and coach who grew up in Carlton, Minn., credits Dauwalter for “opening horizons for women.”

Dauwalter, 40, also has shown that women in the upper age groups still can crush, too, said Peterson, who is 39. “There are so many ways she has shaped the sport in general, and for female athletes in particular.”

Dauwalter exudes a joyful charisma that – like skiing star Jessie Diggins – has broadened her appeal beyond niche sports.

Dauwalter’s telegenic smile is her introduction. She also is known for favoring long shorts and sustaining herself on nachos, jelly beans and the occasional beer, not typical for an athlete’s diet. She doesn’t have a coach pulling the strings.

Those qualities have endeared her to trail runners and fans of the sport regardless of results. Supportive crowds hung around to cheer her 10th-place finish at the UTMB in late August in the French Alps.

“When athletes have this personality — this likability — that relatability is a special thing,” Jurek said. “Some athletes realize they have a gift or ability to influence others. Courtney has been the embodiment of that.”

“Somehow she adds an element of fun to something so painful,” Alana Dillinger, senior operations event manager at Twin Cities in Motion. “It just captures people’s interest. She has a wider reach than any other trail runner I know.”

Dauwalter has pushed to the top, over high-altitude, grinding conditions that take every ounce of physical strength. Yet, to her, it’s a mental game.

“My ultrarunning is really fueled by curiosity and joy and wondering what is possible,” she said.

The focus was evident at Hopkins High School, said Gibbs, who along with his father, Bob, began coaching Dauwalter in Nordic skiing when she was an eighth-grader.

“We don’t want to make anything easy – that was our motto,” said Gibbs. The difficult workouts included long Saturday training days and weighted vests.

The winning extended to cross-country and track, too.

“[The teams] pushed each other so much,” Gibbs recalled. “Courtney was the leader of that scenario. She showed how hard to work, how hard we could push ourselves.”

Dauwalter and Diggins share striking parallels. Both consider pain a territory to lean into, rather than a hurdle to overcome. They have described entering “the pain cave,” to persevere when they seemingly have met their physical limits.

Dauwalter told one interviewer that she envisions herself in a hard hat, holding a chisel and “going to town, trying to make it a dust pile while I am in there.”

Dauwalter’s last marathon was in 2012 in the Twin Cities. She ran with her brothers in an easy-paced three hours, 52 minutes. She intends to go hard Sunday, despite a short window to prepare.

Dauwalter has solicited tips from her close friend and former Hopkins teammate, Jenny (nee Jorvig) Goswami, who is in the marathon field and ran in the 2020 Olympic trials.

Goswami laughed at the idea of giving running advice to her accomplished friend. Still, she has shared some practical ideas. Speed is a focus, Goswami added, such as what is the sustained effort you can hold for 12 to 14 miles?

Regardless, she also knows what to expect.

“Courtney has such an incredible drive and motivation and such a positive spin on everything,” Goswami said. “She has always had that, always had that drive unlike anyone else.”

Which makes Sunday worth watching.

For her part, Dauwalter is curious what her 15 years of ultra distances has done to her as a runner.