Maggie Guterl becomes first women to win Big’s Backyard Ultra – The Know
Durango ultrarunner Maggie Guterl identifies with something Alex Honnold says in “Free Solo,” the documentary film about his historic ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park: “Nobody achieves anything great by being happy and cozy.”
She mentioned the quote because it sums up her motivation in ultrarunning, and this past Monday she achieved something not only great but also historic: She became the first woman to finish first in Big’s Backyard Ultra in Bell Buckle, Tenn., running 250 miles in 60 one-hour laps of just over 4 miles each. The next closest competitor in the field of 72 starters was a man, Will Hayward of Hong Kong, who failed to complete the 60th lap and was credited with running 245.8 miles.
There’s nothing cozy about ultrarunning, and for Guterl, enduring suffering is part of its attraction.
“Our lives sometimes are so easy,” said Guterl, 39. “I mean, life is hard, it’s complicated, it’s stressful. But all the comforts we have — we can drive to Starbucks and get a coffee, and I can do so many things just straight from my computer. But there is something about raw suffering to achieve a goal that is much more rewarding.
“Obviously, yeah, to explore limits, like, ‘I can do this.’ Or, ‘Can I? I don’t know.’ Just to see what it’s like to go beyond some kind of barrier that you think is a barrier. Maybe as humans, we crave some kind of suffering. Ultrarunning wouldn’t thrive in the age of the frontier. They had hard enough lives as it was — cold winters, and they had to work really hard to survive, chop wood and kill animals to eat and grow food. But a lot of that is taken care of for us now. Maybe it’s just some kind of innate human nature.”
The format for Big’s Backyard Ultra is pretty simple: Keep running laps, one hour at a time, until you’re the last one standing. The lap distance is designed to leave some time for rest. Guterl, for example, ran 53-minute laps for most of the race, leaving an average of 7 minutes at the end of each lap for recovery and nutrition.
Two runners made it past the 48-hour mark besides Guterl and Hayward. Canadian Dave Proctor lasted 52 laps (216.6 miles) and the next-fastest woman, New Zealander Katie Wright, made it 50 (208.33).
“There are just not many races where you can experience things like this,” Guterl said. “Even in a 200-miler, you can sleep when you’re really tired, even though people try to limit that sleep because they want to be done faster. This race, it doesn’t matter how tired you are, you have eight minutes to lie down, or five minutes to lie down. It’s interesting to see how you can deal with these challenges, not get too far ahead of yourself and think about the end, just go one loop at a time.”
Last year, Guterl ran much of the race with Golden’s Courtney Dauwalter, who would finish second and was the top women’s finisher (279 miles). Guterl lasted 183 miles last year before dropping out with knee soreness. Dauwalter followed her in the race this year through online updates.
“I was so thrilled for Maggie and her performance,” Dauwalter said. “She is an incredible person and athlete. I will be channeling her toughness during my next race.”
That next race, in fact, happens Saturday at the 24 Hour World Championships in Albi, France. Eight weeks ago, Dauwalter was the top women’s finisher in the prestigious Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc at Chamonix, France.
Guterl moved this year from West Chester, Pa., to Durango, where she is an athlete and events manager for Tailwind Nutrition, which specializes in products for endurance athletes. She wasn’t a serious runner until 10 years ago, when she decided to train for a marathon.
“I finished my first marathon, said ‘never again,’ and the next day I was looking for another one.”
Two years later, she signed up for her first 24-hour race. Like most ultrarunners, she loves the camaraderie of the close-knit ultra community as much as the actual competition.
“They’re all amazing people,” Guterl said. “The résumé of each individual person is stunning. They range from Amelia Boone, this four-time world champion obstacle course racer, to Gavin Woody, who has won the Arrowhead 135 (a winter ultra in Minnesota), which is where you pull your own sled through the snow for 135 miles. It’s just crazy. On paper, you’re like, ‘How can I beat all these people?’ ”
But she did, and a lot of people were pulling for her.
“I had an all-woman crew, and everyone was really stoked,” Guterl said. “The energy kept me going. Gavin Woody’s wife was telling him, ‘Tell her she’s running for an entire gender.’ ”