Back to the Pain Cave: Courtney Dauwalter Pre-2026 UTMB Interview

The post Back to the Pain Cave: Courtney Dauwalter Pre-2026 UTMB Interview appeared first on iRunFar.

Three-time champion Courtney Dauwalter of the U.S. is once again back for the big loop around Mount Blanc at the 2026 UTMB. In the following interview, Courtney talks about her recovery after winning the Hardrock 100 in July, how she has learned to go with the flow between consecutive big races, and what a great day of exploring the UTMB pain cave might look like.

For more on who’s racing, check out our in-depth women’s and men’s previews and follow our live race coverage starting Friday.

[Editor’s Note: If you are unable to see the video above, click here to watch it.]

Courtney Dauwalter Pre-2026 UTMB Interview Transcript

iRunFar: Meghan Hicks of iRunFar. I’m with Courtney Dauwalter. It’s a couple days before the 2026 UTMB. Here we find ourselves in Chamonix, France again.

Courtney Dauwalter: I love it. I love it.

iRunFar: Welcome back.

Dauwalter: Thank you. You too.

iRunFar: Welcome here. Yeah, you’re a long timer. You’re a frequenter. You’re a Chamonix friend.

Dauwalter: Yeah. Yeah. And we are so psyched to be here just rolling into the valley and you get the huge views, and yeah, it just feels exciting.

iRunFar: We saw you just a short seven weeks ago when we all were pretty tired at the finish line of the Hardrock 100 where you won and set a course record. And I have just barely recovered from covering that race. So how are you feeling?

Dauwalter: I’m feeling good. For some reason, that feels like a lifetime ago already.

iRunFar: Okay. That’s great.

Dauwalter: It had been way too long since I’d seen your face, and I’m already craving a big adventure. So I don’t know why or how time did a weird warp there, but it really does feel like not even this summer that that happened.

iRunFar: Interesting. You’ve doubled up. You’ve done this double before. You’ve done a triple before. Has this felt like a more vacuous amount of time between the two races, or are you having a different experience this time?

Dauwalter: A little bit. I think I’ve only stacked these two together, Hardrock and UTMB twice, I think. One of the times I didn’t finish Hardrock and then came to UTMB. And then the other time was in the summer that included Western States as well. And the experiences feel vastly different. That first one where I DNFed at Hardrock, it felt like I was just training all summer, getting ready basically then for UTMB because we rolled the Hardrock DNF into-

iRunFar: It was a good training day.

Dauwalter: … a really long run. Yeah. And then the 2023 summer, it was real survival mode between Hardrock and UTMB and just cobbling together whatever we could.

iRunFar: So this time with just one 100-miler under your belt in the summer, it feels a little bit different. You feel fresher, or what’s the right way to describe how you’re feeling right now?

Dauwalter: Yeah. I’m not sure. I need a list of words to choose from, I think, because I can’t [inaudible 00:02:40].

iRunFar: Check A if you’re happy. Check B if you’re sad.

Dauwalter: It feels like Hardrock leads really well into UTMB, and the amount of time between them felt really great for just a full recharge, reset. I took some weeks off after Hardrock and did nothing that resembled a running motion. And then getting back into it, things just started clicking over again and we were like, “Heck, let’s try another one because why not?”

iRunFar: You have road mapped the transition between big events multiple times before. You’ve got years of experience of like, “Oh, hey, this roadmap maybe didn’t quite work as well, and maybe this one did.” How have you sort of refined these transitions from going from a thing like Hardrock to a UTMB seven weeks apart? Have you gotten more aggressive with your recovery? What does the roadmap currently look like?

Dauwalter: I think I’ve gotten better at being totally flexible with whatever it looks like is perfect. Even if it’s not, just the mindset around not stressing over, did I do enough? Did I get back to enough climbing? Have I gotten enough big weeks in between? It’s like whatever the body and brain are willing and able and excited to do feels like the path I try to follow with as little resistance as possible.

iRunFar: One thing that I always get from you is that though you repeat things, things are different for you each time. And so this is a race that you’re pretty familiar with. You’ve been here many times since your first run here, but the experiences are different each time for you, I think. So the basic question is you have things that anybody would aspire to as a victory at UTMB, but you have three of them. But obviously you’re chasing something a little bit evolved or a different experience.

Dauwalter: I think, I mean, it’s what this sport is for me, is making memories and trying really hard and seeing what’s possible and giving myself opportunities to visit the pain cave because I’m not sure still if it ends or where it ends. And yeah, to come back to the same race and be able to line up on trails that I love a whole lot and do all of those things feels just really lucky. So it has been multiple years at this race, but there’s so many reasons to keep coming back to something you love.

iRunFar: This race last year, it seemed like things worked really well for you for maybe 110 kilometers or so, and then it turned into a glorious walk back to Chamonix. Looking back on that a year now, what are the takeaways there that you’re like, “Oh, we’re putting that in a box and we’re not even thinking about it.” Or are there learnings that you’re bringing for this weekend?

Dauwalter: Absolutely learnings and just the biggest smile on my face when I think of that year. It was so, so hard, but it was also one of the most special finish lines I’ve ever gotten to. It is top of the list of just life moments created out there. And it was definitely because of the people around me and the people out on course and the volunteers and family and friends.

iRunFar: This is amazing.

Dauwalter: Is it fine? Wait, do we leave it? Do you guys want back on mute?

iRunFar: I think we just keep sending it.

Dauwalter: Should we ask him to turn it up?

iRunFar: Turn it up. Yeah.

Dauwalter: But it was fully buoyed on, and the momentum was from the love and that felt really special and just such a good reminder of the core of why I love this sport so much.

iRunFar: I mean, for me, that was probably one of the coolest things that I took away from last year at UTM. But there’s all these stories that circulate in your head, is that people were still cheering for you like maniacs, supporting you up these climbs, even though you were visibly pretty stretched physically at that point. And you had your family out there and it was like, the universe does not actually care about performance here. It just cares about people and the experience of that moment.

Dauwalter: Yeah, exactly. And we get to use this sport as a way to remind ourselves of and experience those kinds of things.

iRunFar: It’s not an easy loop.

Dauwalter: No. It’s so hard.

iRunFar: But you’ve done a lot of hard things in your life, and you like doing hard, and you like exploring the outer reaches. What is it about this loop that actually takes people, takes you all the way out there?

Dauwalter: Oh, so many puzzle pieces. I think the climbs and descents, they just keep coming.

iRunFar: All the way until the end.

Dauwalter: Yeah. And they’re very steep, and they’ll pounce if you wobble even the slightest.

iRunFar: They’re like a lingering mountain lion in the woods.

Dauwalter: Yeah.

iRunFar: Get aggressive if you lose your concentration for a second.

Dauwalter: Yeah.

iRunFar: Yeah.

Dauwalter: And I don’t know. The weather here is tricky and always changing. I don’t want to jinx it and talk about the weather-

iRunFar: [inaudible 00:09:01].

Dauwalter: … but here we are.

iRunFar: We’re from Minnesota. It’s what we do actually. It’s impossible to not mention the weather. So yeah, how’s the weather looking?

Dauwalter: Well, I was telling Kevin how it would be so cool if I experienced a clear night on this course because-

iRunFar: For the first time ever?

Dauwalter: I think it’s always just trying to see your feet, and you’re socked in clouds and probably getting pelted with rain or hail or snow or all of it. But it would be really fun if it was some clear starry night out there and to wander through Italy with that kind of view.

iRunFar: You’ve had great loops around Mont Blanc, hard loops around Mount Blanc. You’ve had a run and then a walk around Mont Blanc. If you just envisioned if all the puzzle pieces came as close together as they can get, what does Friday and Saturday look like this time?

Dauwalter: I would love if it felt like I could keep my foot on the gas the whole time and could be taking in all of my calories the whole time.

iRunFar: Nutrition plan actually working?

Dauwalter: Yeah. Yeah. I think there’s been very few, maybe only one year where I didn’t start throwing up at Champex-Lac and then carry that through the rest of the race.

iRunFar: Noted.

Dauwalter: Yeah. So it would be cool if I arrived in Champex-Lac and still had my lunch.

iRunFar: Day of bar.

Dauwalter: Yeah.

iRunFar: Goals.

Dauwalter: Yeah. But also just to feel at the finish line, hopefully that every step I took was with purpose and was giving it everything I had in that moment, whatever that looks like.

iRunFar: I really like the metaphor of being able to keep your foot on the gas for as much of the loop as you can. That’s very clear.

Dauwalter: Yeah.

iRunFar: Courtney Dauwalter, best of luck to you in this year’s looper around Mount Blanc.

Dauwalter: Thank you. See you out there.

iRunFar: Okay.

Dauwalter: Wait, are we starting from the top?

iRunFar: We got a couple bonus questions.

Dauwalter: Courtney Dauwalter here from iRunFar. I’m with Meghan Hicks. She just ran the Scout 100.

iRunFar: I did. It was crazy mountain, but we’re rolling on the top. Courtney, try again.

Dauwalter: I was thinking of Scout because-

iRunFar: I did it last year.

Dauwalter: Thank you.

iRunFar: Yeah, I did do it.

Dauwalter: I wanted to talk about your 2025 Scout Mountain.

iRunFar: But I do have bonus questions for you.

Dauwalter: Okay.

iRunFar: Yeah. I’m just going to find that really quick.

Dauwalter: Am I showing too much neck?

iRunFar: Mike was [inaudible 00:11:56] in there.

Dauwalter: Yo.

iRunFar: Off on a journey.

Dauwalter: Geez.

iRunFar: This is a lightning round of bonus questions.

Dauwalter: Okay. So I say things quickly?

iRunFar: No, I say things quickly and you answer. Croissant or pain au chocolat?

Dauwalter: Pain au chocolat.

iRunFar: Bonjour or buongiorno?

Dauwalter: Bonjour.

iRunFar: France, Italy, or Switzerland?

Dauwalter: I would never pick. I would never.

iRunFar: A Minnesota goodbye or an Irish goodbye?

Dauwalter: A Minnesota goodbye all day long.

iRunFar: You ain’t ever slipping out of a party ever?

Dauwalter: No. I’ll start my goodbye when I get there.

iRunFar: Miles or kilometers?

Dauwalter: Miles.

iRunFar: Really? Okay. So good luck on your 109-mile loop, UTMB. Cold plunge or sauna?

Dauwalter: Sauna.

iRunFar: Candy corn or Starburst?

Dauwalter: Well, candy corn, 100%.

iRunFar: [inaudible 00:13:02].

Dauwalter: Usually if it’s a choice between an unwrapped candy and a wrapped candy, I’m going unwrapped.

iRunFar: You got to have accent.

Dauwalter: Yeah. I want it. I want it quick. I want it in quantity, and I don’t want to work for it.

iRunFar: All right. Good job. Do you want to work for the candy? I work in every other aspect of what I do.

Back to the Pain Cave: Courtney Dauwalter Pre-2026 UTMB Interview by Meghan Hicks.