423. Courtney Dauwalter, 2021 UTMB Winner

"I was doing everything I could, every section that I was coming upon. So in my head it was like, if I'm doing as best I can and I get caught and passed, then that's just how it played out, and I'm gonna cheer that person on who's passing me because that's cool, and that's how we get better together."

Last month, Courtney Dauwalter defended — and reclaimed — her title at the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc 106.5-mile race, and smashed records along the way. She broke the all-time women's course record by seven minutes, finishing in 22 hours 30 minutes and 54 seconds. She beat her 2019 winning time by two hours and two minutes, finished sixth overall (the highest finish ever by a woman), and won the women's division by more than an hour and a half. On this episode, Courtney talks about this year's UTMB experience, describing the sights (and hallucinations), sounds, highs (more than 32,800 feet of climbing!), lows, and views (of France, Italy, and Switzerland) along the way. Plus, in true Courtney fashion, we laugh a lot and talk about candy. If you're looking for a conversation that's equal parts fun, silly, inspiring, and encouraging, this is it.

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What you'll get on this episode:

• A day in the life of Courtney Dauwalter (2:00)
• What do the numbers and stats mean to Courtney? (5:00)
• Courtney reflects on having to drop out of the Hardrock 100 earlier this summer (6:45)
• Courtney's goals for UTMB, and how she would grade her performance (12:30)
• How Courtney was feeling on race day (16:30)
• Courtney breaks down the race (19:45)
• Hallucination stories! And when things started to hurt (32:20)
• What Courtney listens to on the run (34:40)
• Marriage talk (41:00)
• How Courtney celebrated her UTMB win (44:00)
• What's next? (50:25)
• Candy talk! (53:00)

Check out:

Courtney Dauwalter on Episode 302 of the Ali on the Run Show

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