Courtney Dauwalter, Jim Walmsley win UTMB 2023

American ultrarunners Courtney Dauwalter and Jim Wamsley claimed the top spots at the 100-mile Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc (UTMB) held over August 28 to September 3, 2023.

Jim Walmsley is the first American man to win the 100-mile race; he did so in his fifth attempt.

He also set a new course record with his finish in 19 hours, 37 minutes and 43 seconds, setting aside Killian Jornet’s course record of 19:49:30 hours.

Courtney Dauwalter won with timing of 23:29:14.

AFI names 12 ultrarunners for IAU 24-Hour World Championship Taiwan

The Athletic Federation of India (AFI) has named the team of 12 ultrarunners to represent Indian at the IAU 24 Hour World Championships to be held in Chinese Taipei in December this year, AFI said in a circular.

The team includes six women and six male runners. Women runners chosen include Anju Saini, Aparna Choudhary, Preeti Lala, Shashi Mehta, Meenal Kotak and Priyanka Bhatt. The men’s team includes Velu Perumal, Saurav Kumar Ranjan, Amar Singh Devanda, Geeno Antony, Badal Teotia and Ullas Narayana.

The selection criterion for the World Championships mandates that male runners complete 220 km or more during a 24-hour race held between July 1, 2022 and August 10, 2023. Women runners are required to cover a distance of 180 km or more.

As proof of fitness, runners are required to have run a 12-hour or a 100 km event during the period January 1, 2023 and August 10, 2023, AFI had said in an earlier circular.

In another circular, AFI said it plans to send a team of six female and six male runners for the IAU 50 km World Championship to be held in Hyderabad in November 2023.

The qualifying cut-off timing for male runners is completing a marathon in 2:50 hours and for women 3:20 hours in a race held between November 5, 2022 and August 10, 2023.

Courtney Dauwalter smashes women’s course record at Western States, Hardrock 100

Courtney Dauwalter, American ultrarunner, smashed course records at two major ultramarathon events in a period of three weeks.

At the Western States, a 100-mile endurance run and the world’s oldest trail run, Courtney broke the women’s course record by nearly 80 minutes. She finished the race in 15 hours, 29 minutes and 33 seconds. The race was held on June 24-25, 2023.

Three weeks later, she broke the course record at Hardrock 100, also a 100-mile race. She finished the counter-clockwise course in 26:14:08, smashing the course record by an hour and four minutes. (Hardrock alternates the circular course every year). She already holds the course record for the clockwise direction.

(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai.)