Courtney Dauwalter is set to kick off her 2026 trail running season this week at the Tenerife Bluetrail by UTMB – but the race could be in doubt due to “unfavourable weather conditions” in the Canary Islands.
The ultrarunning GOAT, who turned 41 last month, has won every race that matters, 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.
The American superstar ended 2025 in different style as she took in a couple of road marathons, shattering her PB by nearly 11 minutes with a time of 2:38:55 at the California International Marathon in December while earlier this year she was given the honour of being part of the 2026 Winter Olympics Torch Relay.
But she’s due to be back in more familiar territory in the Canary Islands this weekend in the 100-mile category, albeit the race is actually 110km with over 6,000 metres of elevation gain.
Race in doubt
However parts of Spain and the Canary Islands are forecast to get torrential rain and strong winds over the coming days.
And race organisers posted on their social media channels: “‼️ Monitoring high-impact Storm Therese.
“The organization of the Tenerife Bluetrail by UTMB is continuously monitoring Storm Therese, whose weather forecasts for the coming days are currently not favourable.
“⚠️ The Spanish State Meteorological Agency has issued a yellow wind warning for the coming days.
“🛡 We are closely following the evolution of the weather situation in order to guarantee the safety of all participants, volunteers and teams involved in the event.
“📡 At the same time, we remain attentive to the instructions from the General Directorate of Security and Emergencies of the Government of the Canary Islands.
“⏳We will continue to monitor the forecasts and official warnings. Throughout the day we will issue a statement informing about the decision that will be taken regarding the development of the race.
“🙏 We appreciate your understanding.”
‘A living legend’
Yolanda Moliné, Sports Councillor for Tenerife, had earlier said of Dauwalter’s presence on the island: “We are incredibly fortunate to have a living legend of trail running, who possesses historic achievements, a captivating personality, and an inspiring story that transcends the sport.”
She is easily the highest-rated runner in terms of her UTMB index of 837, with France’s Manon Bohard (742), Spain’s Aroa Sio (729), and Germany’s Ida-Sophie Hegemann (725) coming next.
Also in opposition is multiple Winter Spine Race winner Claire Bannwarth of France.
Dauwalter is set for a return to the Cocodona 250 in a couple of months, a race where she has unfinished business after tackling the 256-mile event for the first time last year when, despite leading the overall standings after 77 miles, she registered a rare DNF as she exited the race at mile 108.
Broadcast bonus
If the Tenerife Bluetrail goes ahead then it will be the first of 10 UTMB events held across seven countries that will be broadcast live this season.
The races will be streamed on live.utmb.world and through six official broadcast partners: Le Groupe L’Équipe, DAZN, Eurovision Sport and iQIYI, with two new partners joining the network for 2026 – FloSports in North America and Tencent Sports in China.
Additional content will complement the live broadcasts, including a 45-minute “Best of Live” programme, available on the UTMB World Series YouTube channel after each broadcast, bringing together the highlights from each race less than 48 hours after the race weekend concludes.
However neither Chianti Ultra Trail by UTMB, which also takes place this weekend, nor next month’s Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB are on the schedule despite both being Golden Ticket races for Western States.
