12
n a sport dominated by Ameri
can West-Coasters, Dannis ex-
ploded onto the scene in 2010,
surprising everyone and shock-
ing herself. As the fifth female finisher
at the 2010 Angel Island 50k (that’s
well over 30 miles) in California, and
as the only East Coast runner in the
top 40 – man or woman – the “ultra”
world began to take note.
Another surprise came after the
start of 2014’s Boston Marathon. Such
historic races are often overwhelming
and disorienting experiences – the
sheer mass of runners, the constant
cheers from thousands of spectators,
and the accompanying adrenaline
rush of taking part in it all can make
pacing – and running – one’s best race
deeply challenging. Guided by her own
happiness and absorbing the energy
of the crowd, Dannis approached the
half-marathon point with a steady
stride, but surrounded by surprise:
only male runners were on the course.
At the halfway mark, Dannis was
startled to hear emerging from the
crowd excited shouts of “There’s the
first woman!” A finishing time of
2:44:14 in Boston translated to Dannis
earning 33rd overall among female
competitors, including first place in
the non-elite field and beating many
elite competitors.
The shock of her performance at
Boston didn’t have much time to sink
in. Just 19 days later, Dannis cruised
through 50 miles in 7:15:39 at the Ice
Age Trail race in Wisconsin, earning
her a much-coveted spot at the most
famous ultramarathon: the Western
States 100-miler. Runners who cover
the 100.2-mile course – 18,000-foot
elevation gain and 23,000-foot eleva-
tion loss – in California’s beautiful
Squaw Valley take home much more
than beleaguered quads and blistered
feet. They also return with a belt buckle.
The peculiarity of this belt buckle
is perhaps the true essence of ultra-
marathon running: these objects are
relics. They reflect an accomplishment
that simply cannot be represented
in a trophy, medal, or physical object.
Runners who complete the Western
States 100-miler are rewarded with a
pride so unique to the world of ultra-
running that only fellow ultrarun-
ners can understand the weight of
the accomplishment. So, just two
months after Wisconsin’s Ice Age
Trail 50-miler, and after two more
grueling races, Dannis crossed the
Western States’ finish line on June 29
in 18:29:18 – fast enough for second-
place female overall.
“Larisa’s natural talent, dedication
to training, and plain old stubborn-
ness are what enable her to succeed
at ultrarunning,” says her coach,
Jason Koop, director of coaching at
Carmichael Training Systems.
Koop understands the stress and
impact that running ultramarathons
can have on an athlete, and he breaks
down the science of Dannis’ resilience
in a way that makes her accomplish-
ments explainable.
“Larisa’s heart will beat over 150,000
times during the course of any 100-
mile event,” he says. “Additionally, her
muscles and joints must be conditioned
to take the pounding of running the
distance. During a 100-mile event,
each leg will have to absorb nearly
three times her body weight over
100,000 times, accounting for every
step along the course.”
The numbers tend to have a dizzy-
ing effect, and Dannis has fun with
them in her race reports. The 50-mile
road race, where she broke six hours
back in October of 2014, came with
these stats: 1,200 calories consumed,
4,246 calories burned, 150 heartbeats
per minute averaged.
As for breaking six hours, Dannis
explains that seeing the 5:59 on the
clock as she approached the finish line
was “completely overwhelming.” Her
performance earned her praise from
every corner of the running world,
including being named USA Track
and Field’s athlete of the week, an
honor usually reserved for Olympians
such as silver medalist Galen Rupp
(the current American record-holder
at 10,000m). It didn’t take long for a
new shoe sponsor to fall into place
(Hoka One One) and Team USA asked
Larisa to be a part of the ultramara-
thon team that will compete in the
world championships in Qatar.
Of course, Dannis deserves to be
among the world’s elite ultrarunners.
In a post-race interview with the
25-time marathon finisher and founder
of Pursuit Athletic Experience, Al
Lyman noted how “we can all learn
from [Dannis] and be inspired by
her, not only as it pertains to train-
ing, running, and racing, but perhaps
most importantly, life in general.”
Eric Schranz of Ultra Runner Podcast
wrote of Dannis’s potential, “If Larisa
were an IPO, I’d buy big.”
Dannis’s rise from wiling outdoors-
woman to professional athlete is in
part due to her unconventional train-
ing style, something called the Maffe-
tone Method. Often seen on the train-
ing logs of cyclists and triathletes,
the Maffetone Method is dictated by
heartrate. Dannis wears a heartrate
monitor as she trains, setting the goal
window of beats per minute during a
training run or race. During the 50k,
for example, her goal was to keep it
“between 140-155 beats per minute.”
Disregarding pacing and time dur-
ing the majority of her competitions
might be the reason why Dannis earned
a No. 7 ranking from
UltraRunning
Magazine
at the end of 2014. But
Dannis credits much of her success
to her dedicated support crew – her
family. For the major races, her mother,
Sandy, ensures that all of her daugh-
ter’s nutritional needs are met. Even
Dannis’s younger sister, Jenna ’08, has
pitched in, running the final miles of
some races alongside Larisa.
Beyond Maffetone and family, hid-
den behind the wildly high weekly
mileage totals that often push 100,
and unseen in the sweat Dannis
sheds or the calories she burns is
something basic that rests squarely
at the heart of her journey – that
pure love for a sport that gives her
unfiltered joy and happiness.
No matter the distance, Dannis
vows to maintain that joy by smiling
back at the cheering crowd or to her-
self on her solitary runs. The future
looks bright for Dannis, as she aims
to improve upon her second-place
finish at the Western States 100-miler
in June. She also has established per-
sonal goals of setting a world record
in the 50-mile and qualifying for the
Olympic Trials in the marathon – by
no means easy goals. Don’t be fooled
by the smile.
I
