Courtney Dauwalter Writes Trail Running History in La Réunion

Courtney Dauwalter took the 4th overall spot at the Diagonale des Fous in Réunion Island, finishing in 24h 37mn, beating the previous record by 2 hours and becoming the first female runner to win all 4 major 100-milers. In 2018, she conquered the oppressive heat in California to win the Western States 100. She came to Chamonix, France, in 2019, won, came back in 2021, won again and broke the female record. This year, she placed 6th overall at Hardrock 100, breaking the female course record by over 30 minutes.

For her first visit to La Réunion island, Courtney knew she had to face one of the hardest 100-milers. The Diagonale des Fous offers 165 km (100 miles) and 10,200 m (32,000 ft) of elevation gain to the “crazy” ("fous" in French, hence the name) runners who participate. It is filled with technical trails, impressive passes and luscious landscapes, making it one of the most technical and unique 100-milers there is. She was accompanied by her team, including François D’haene, 4-time winner of this race (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018), who gave her some precious advice and was there to help with crewing along the race. Mathieu Blanchard was also there to support Courtney.

The race started with the ascent of Notre Dame de la Paix. After 50 km, Courtney was feeling good and running in 11th place. She was being careful to begin with, before catching up with the head of the race when she got to the Cilaos Cirque. At the 10-hour mark, she had run half of the race and was in 5th place. She took a fall along the route, but after a quick clean up at Sentier Scout, she was back on course. Despite the additional physical and mental barriers due to her injury, she kept pushing into the night to cross the finish line in 24 h 37 mn, 4th place overall and the 1st woman to finish.

"It's easy to enjoy this race, even when it gets really tough," Courtney admits. "It's so beautiful throughout, especially in the Mafate circus. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to race in this environment. When I started to really suffer, halfway through the race - I also fell at that time while descending from the Col du Taïbit (km 90) - it was not so difficult to change my state of mind, get away from the pain, and focus on this extraordinary island. It was so cool to come across all these little villages in Mafate!"