Courtney Dauwalter relishing Mt. Fuji 100 return: “It will be fun to see how much I’ve grown”

Ultrarunning GOAT Courtney Dauwalter returns to action this Friday at the Mt. Fuji 100, a 100-miler in central Japan.

It’s the latest stop on the World Trail Majors circuit – the previous one, The North Face Transgrancanaria, saw Dauwalter start her season with a victory.

Back after six years

As ever all eyes had been on the American legend in what was her first appearance following a remarkable 2023 which saw her notch the Western States / Hardrock / UTMB treble.

And though she defended the Transgrancanaria title with plenty of spare, she did admit afterwards that it had felt “a hundred times harder” than 12 months previously.

So it will be fascinating to see how her return to the Mt. Fuji 100 goes – on her last visit she was the clear-cut winner in 23:57:48, with no other woman breaking 26 hours.

‘I also remember throwing up a lot’

But her memories of the race suggest it wasn’t all plain-sailing as she said on Instagram in the build-up to Friday’s event: “Headed back to Japan to test myself on a course that I did in 2018. 

“I remember the climbs being steeeeep and the runnable sections being fast. I also remember throwing up a lot and bonking hard around mile 80, slogging my way in to the finish. 😳 

“Will be fun to (hopefully) see how much I’ve grown & learned about running 100 miles in the last six years.”

There will be a livestream to follow the action as it unfolds – we’ll have full details in our main race preview later this week.