When last year saw you win four 100-mile races and a 100k, where do you go next? If you're Courtney Dauwalter, you double the distance (and then some) of course. reigning queen, who took the top podium spot at the Hardrock 100, , and in 2024, announced on Instagram this weeked that she's planning to put her beloved Salomon S/Lab Genesis shoes through extra paces this year, with her first 250-mile race. Craving a BIG adventure and missing my hallucinated friends lately," writes the Colorado-based runner, who says she's signed up for the Cocodona 250 from Black Canyon City north of Phoenix to Flagstaff, Arizona in May.
Though Dauwalter says she doesn't have much experience at this level, the background she does have bodes well. She set a course record and took first overall at the Moab 240 in 2017 and took first place and second overall the following year in the Tahoe 200. In 2020, she won Big's Backyard Ultra, but since then she's stuck largely to 100-mile races and cemented her place in history as one of the fastest trail runners at this distance.
Now, it seems, the 39-year-old is curious to see what else she's capable of. "Something about those multi day events keeps me really intrigued. What’s possible?! Standing on a start line knowing you have multiple sleepless nights, thousands of footsteps, and inevitable problem-solving ahead of you feels so cool.
" Those of us who watched at the UTMB in 2024 wondered if the pair might be heading for another matchup in 2025 as Dauwal.
