Claire Bannwarth is a trail running machine. Then she ran the Transgrancanaria 128K in the Canary Islands in February (seventh female), followed by the Cursa di Ciclopi 500K in Sicily in April (second female), and the UTMB Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 165K in Wales in May (third female). Bannwarth, who lives in Village-Neuf, France, went on to run Colorado's Hardrock 100 in July (fifth place female), and then win the Tahoe 200 a week later in Lake Tahoe, California.
Courtney Dauwalter has earned the reputation as one of the best female long-distance runners of all-time, the GOAT among female ultrarunners. The 38-year-old runner who's originally from Minnesota and lives in Leadville, Colorado, has won more than 50 races of 50K or longer over the past 10 years, including twice winning the Madeira Island Ultra Trail 115K, Western States 100, Hardrock 100 and Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, plus overall wins (beating all the men, too) at several races, including at the Moab 240 (2017) and Big Dog's Backyard Ultra (2020). On July 28, she announced she's decided to enter this year's Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc on September 1-2 in Chamonix, France, a very competitive and rigorous 106-mile race that encircles the Mont Blanc Massif.