Leki, the manufacturer of skiing, trekking and trail running poles, announced it had signed American ultramarathon runner Courtney Dauwalter.
“Courtney’s incredible talent, passion and outgoing personality transcend the sport of trail running,” said Sven Brunso, Leki marketing director. “Her accomplishments have put her on the global stage alongside the best of the best, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome her to the team.”
“Poles have been a vital part of my racing gear for years, and I am very excited to be partnering with a world-class brand like Leki to help me achieve my future goals,” said Dauwalter. “I love climbing with poles, but I also use them during technical descents because they provide extra balance points as I navigate rocky sections downhill.”
Dauwalter was 4-time Minnesota state Nordic skiing champion in high school and came to Colorado as a Nordic ski racer on a scholarship to the University of Denver. She used running to maintain fitness in the off-season and was an early adopter of using poles while running.
“Growing up, Nordic skiing helped me see how poles can be very useful in helping us move forward and so the transition to trail running with poles felt like it made sense fairly quickly,” explained Dauwalter.
Dauwalter joins a Leki roster of international trail runners, including Francois D’Haene, Pau Cappel, Xavier Thevenard, Dylan Bowman, Kaytlyn Gerbin, Tim Tollefson, and Sabrina Stanley. She will be part of the global introduction of the brand’s Trail Shark grip system in 2022, Leki’s first grip-strap system developed for trail running.
Photo courtesy Leki
