Courtney Dauwalter breaks record at Western States 100 by almost 80 minutes

(CNN) — Ultramarathon runner Courtney Dauwalter crushed the women’s course record at the Western States 100-mile race across the Sierra Nevada, taking more than an hour off the previous best time.

Running into Auburn on Saturday night, Dauwalter, 38, finished the Western States in 15 hours, 29 minutes and 34 seconds, almost 80 minutes faster than Ellie Greenwood’s record set in 2012. The race was first run in 1974.

“I just kept asking [my legs] to do one more mile for me and they kept responding, so I was very thankful for that,” Dauwalter told iRunFar about the last 20 miles of the race.

“I was definitely, though, deep in the pain cave and really focused on every single step, every single second.”

Cooler weather contributed to faster times at this year’s Western States 100, which started at 5 a.m. Saturday in Olympic Valley.

Snow covered much of the initial stages of the course before runners descended into an unshaded section scorched by last year’s Mosquito Fire.

After running with fellow American Katie Schide, Dauwalter started pulling away around the 30-mile mark, steadily eating away at Greenwood’s course record.

Covering 18,000 feet of climbing and almost 23,000 feet of descent on mountain trails, the race finishes on a high school running track in Auburn.

“I couldn’t believe when the track suddenly showed up and you make that turn, I was like: We did it! We’re here!” Dauwalter told iRunFar.

“Because that was the moment where I let myself actually believe that we had finished and we were about to be able to stop moving.”

Dauwalter — who lives in Leadville, at 10,000 feet elevation in the Colorado Rockies — also won the Western States 100 in 2018, though her time this year was nearly two hours faster.

Schide finished in second on Saturday in 16 hours, 43 minutes and 45 seconds, which was also quicker than Greenwood’s previous course record.

In the men’s event, the United Kingdom’s Tom Evans won in 14 hours, 40 minutes and 22 seconds – the fourth-fastest time in the history of the race.

Of this year’s field of 381 runners, 328 finished before the 30-hour cutoff, and 110 won the coveted silver belt buckle by coming in under 24 hours.

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