Bandera 100K: Is Courtney Dauwalter unstoppable?

It’s indisputable: ultratrail legend Courtney Dauwalter is making history, race after race. On Saturday, Dauwalter smashed the course record (formerly 9:08, set by Stephanie Howe in 2017) at Bandera 100K, in Bandera, Texas. Dauwalter ran 8:59 and is the first woman to run a sub-nine-hour time on the infamously tough course, finishing sixth overall.

“A trail of rugged and brutal beauty where everything cuts, stings, or bites,” touts the Hoka Bandera Endurance Trail website.  The race is a Western States Endurance Run (WSER) qualifier and a golden ticket race, meaning the top two men and women earn automatic entry into the 2023 race.

#Bandera100k pic.twitter.com/Ve0ZKuM6Ej

— Dylan Bowman (@dylanbo) January 7, 2023

Dauwalter had an astonishing season in 2022, setting course records at Hardrock 100, Madeira Island Ultra-Trail, and Diagonale des Fous. She’s begun 2023 in a similar fashion, leaving us all eagerly anticipating what, exactly, will happen at this year’s WSER.

Phoenix’s Nicole Bitter followed Dauwalter for second place (and a WSER golden ticket) in 10:04, and Florida’s Careth Arnold rounded out the podium in 10:20.

Canadian athlete Katherine Short, now based in Maui, claimed a stellar fifth place, running 10:21 in a daunting field. Short, who says her current goal (something she’s been working on with coach David Roche) is striving for consistent pacing at longer distances, excelled at exactly that.

“It takes a long time to build the confidence, strength and experience required to be the best, but the first step is to learn how it feels to successfully finish a 100K race still running,” Short explains, sharing that the race was a whole lot of Type-2 fun, as anticipated.

“The hardest part was the savage chafing (there was blood), and the best part by far was getting to run with the one and only Courtney Dauwalter–she was so incredibly humble and sweet,” added Short.

Men’s race

The men’s race had a few hot contenders heading into the event and had a shifting leading pack, but Carbondale, Colo.-based Jeff Colt took the win in 8:23. Colt had taken fifth and third in two previous Bandera 100ks and was aiming for a win in the 2023 edition.

Colt ran to 11th at last year’s WSER and had initially planned on racing Bandera with the goal of earning the elusive golden ticket, but says that the camaraderie of racing alongside his teammates on the U.S. World Mountain and Trail team in Thailand in 2022 changed his perspective on sport “more than any single race” and has him reconsidering 2023 goals. He has yet to accept the WSER entry.

“I had my dad, ‘Race Day Rick’ out there as my crew. He was great about dowsing me with cold water and giving me my bottles as quickly as possible,” said Colt.

“Most of the day, I spent thinking about my loved ones and how much they support me. Finding strength in the love and light of others is the greatest race skill I have,” he added.

Boulder’s JP Giblin followed Colt in 8:29, and Canyon Woodward of Washington State crossed the line for third in 8:35.

For full results of the HOKA 2023 Bandera 100K Endurance Run as well as the 50K and 25K events, head here.