Courtney Dauwalter: Step inside the 'pain cave', where rules are remade
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Chamonix is rocking. A voracious melee of thousands squeeze into the French town's narrow streets to witness the culmination of a true monster - the 106-mile (170km) race known as Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc.
Crossing three international borders while circling the tallest mountain in Europe, UTMB is widely regarded as one of the most competitive ultra-marathons on the planet. Combining a carnival atmosphere with a total elevation gain of 10,040 metres - more than 1,000 metres higher than Mount Everest - it is a bruising, bashing, blow-out of a weekend - and this one is particularly special.
UTMB: Up close and personal at the world's biggest, wildest trail race
Excitement pulses through the crowd. A distant roar splits the air. It creeps closer, gaining in volume. A glimpse of yellow appears. The crowd surge forward, almost engulfing the runner in her baggy shorts and slightly oversized T-shirt.
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It is her third UTMB title. A remarkable summer of domination. An unprecedented triple crown of the sport's premier races. The queen of ultra-running has arrived.
Just over 10 years earlier, Courtney Dauwalter sat alone and dejected at an aid station after dropping out of her first 100-mile race, Run Rabbit Run,, external in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
The remote location meant no easy escape - no simple way out. She would have to sit for hours watching others pass before the aid station closed and she could get a ride to the finishing area.
"When it started getting physically difficult, almost immediately my headspace went really negative, and I just whirlpooled down into it," says Dauwalter.
"Any runner will tell you that a 'did not finish' is a crushing experience. I couldn't believe I'd given up so quickly and quit something I'd started."
Alone and hurting, watching others gritting it out, she searched her mind for some resolve.