Ultrarunning GOAT Courtney Dauwalter shattered her PB by nearly 11 minutes with a time of 2:38:55 at the California International Marathon on Sunday.
The 40-year-old has won every race that matters in ultrarunning, many of them multiple times, and in 2023 she became the first person to land the ‘triple crown’ of Western States, Hardrock 100 and the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in the same year.
It was her marathon debut back in 2009 at the Twin Cities Marathon in Minnesota, when she was a middle school science teacher and ran a 3:18:14, that set her on the way to running greatness.
She returned to that race in October this year when she clocked a nicely paced 2:49:54 and was seventh woman overall.
But what happened on Sunday in Sacramento was next level.
Those marathon splits in full
The race was won by Molly Born in 2:24:09 and Dauwalter’s splits were as follows:
| Distance | Time | Pace (min/mile) |
|---|---|---|
| 5K | 00:18:38 | 06:00 |
| 10K | 00:37:06 | 05:57 |
| 15K | 00:55:56 | 06:04 |
| 20K | 01:14:32 | 06:00 |
| Half | 01:18:33 | 05:53 |
| 25K | 01:33:02 | 05:59 |
| 30K | 01:51:38 | 06:00 |
| 35K | 02:10:41 | 06:08 |
| 40K | 02:30:14 | 06:18 |
| Finish | 02:38:55 | 06:23 |
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‘I’ll need to try this distance again’
So 1:18:33 for the first half and 1:20:22 for the second.
Writing afterwards on Instagram, she said: “Exploring different corners of the pain cave. 👷♀️⛏️
“I feel so lucky I got to run with a pack of incredible women out there this weekend. The momentum and energy was huge and I’m so grateful I could join you all for some miles! Thank you! I fell off the back of our group around mile 21 🥵 and then admired their strength as they charged ahead. I learned so much!
“I already know I’ll need to try this distance again. The training feels so different from what I’ve been doing for the past years and I’m excited to keep building on that. With plenty of time on dirt mixed in. 🏔️😊 Chase the crazy idea! Why not!
“Thanks for the amazing cheers out on course, Sacramento! 💚”
Could the “crazy idea” be the Olympic qualifying mark to be in contention for LA2028? For women that’s 2:37, which more than 50 ticked off in Sacramento in what is one of the prime races to try and achieve that standard.
She’s only two minutes off that – on the back of what many would label an unconventional road marathon prep given the amount of trail running – and she was also pretty much on course at halfway as the splits above show.
Watch this space in what is already shaping up to be another fascinating part of the Dauwalter legend.
