Courtney Dauwalter admitted the heat and humidity took their toll as she claimed third place at China’s Tsaigu Trail 50km – but the ultrarunning great relished a chance to push herself over a shorter distance.
Racing in China for the first time, the American finished behind winner Tove Alexandersson and defending champion Varvara Shikanova on the mountainous course around Mount Kuocang.
For an athlete more accustomed to racing for 100 miles and beyond, the challenge was about discovering how fast she could go. And that pursuit will continue on the roads in December, when she returns to the California International Marathon with a U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying time in her sights.
“I love a new challenge”
Speaking afterwards in an interview shared on the event’s official Instagram page, Dauwalter gave a typically wholehearted assessment of her day.
“I feel so tired and really hot. I feel so lucky that I got to race on that course with all the people out there,” she said.
“To see the trails, to experience Tsaigu for the first time was really cool.
“50k is much shorter than I normally race but I love a new challenge, putting myself in something much shorter where I had to push to go faster was a cool challenge. I’m happy to have tried it.”
Sweden’s Alexandersson led from the start to secure the women’s title, while last year’s winner Shikanova returned to take second.
Dauwalter completed the podium after a demanding introduction to the Chinese trails.
Heat, humidity and steep terrain
Without detailed knowledge of the course, Dauwalter approached the race section by section, relying on feel rather than a fixed pacing plan.
“I was running just based on feel and I didn’t know a ton about the course so I tried to just take each section and do it as best I could,” she explained.
“For me today I think the heat really got to me at the end there, it’s so humid.
“That combined with some pretty tough terrain – the climbs and the descents are really steep. It’s a really amazing course to test yourself on.”
Her measure of success was straightforward: making sure she had given everything she could.
“I didn’t really have any expectations going into the race, I just wanted to make sure I tried really, really hard and left all of myself out on the course,” she said.
“And I can for sure say that I did that today.”
Marathon target comes into focus
The emphasis on speed also feeds into Dauwalter’s next road challenge.
As we reported earlier this month, she is heading back to the California International Marathon on December 6 after running 2:38:55 there last year.
That left her one minute and 55 seconds outside the 2:37:00 qualifying standard for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials – a target which adds another dimension to her preparations this autumn.
At Tsaigu, she confirmed that faster running has been part of the build-up.
“I’ve been doing a little speed training here because I’m doing a road marathon at the start of December and trying to see if I can get a new time in that so that will be a really cool goal to push for.”
The immediate challenges will be very different: trading steep mountain climbs and descents for a sustained effort on the roads. But both offer the opportunity to explore a different part of her running.
Speaking to our sister site TRI247 in Kona earlier this month, Dauwalter explained the appeal of that variety.
“I’m not straying away from the ultras, but what I found is it’s so fun to have some variety and mix it up and feel like a rookie at things.”
Her first experience of Tsaigu provided exactly that – and a podium finish to go with it.
