DAN CURTS

Currently working to shift the opinion of sub-ultra trail races from recreational to legitimate—comparable in both prestige and competition to the likes of Hardrock or Western States.

Career highlights

  • 2023 Classic US Mountain Running Champion

    11-time, individual High School State Champion (track/cross country)

    Collegiate DI All-American

    Big 12 Champion (5,000m)

  • Maine: All-time High School record holder (outdoor 3200m)

    New England: All-time High School record holder (indoor 3000m)

    Mt. Moosilauke — 34:37.

  • Mile — 3:59

    5km — 13:38

  • 1st: UTMB Palace 20 (2023)

    3rd: Dirt Circus (2023)

    2nd: Xterra Trail World Championships (2023)

    1st: US Classic Mountain Running Championships (2023)

    2nd: US Vertical Championships (2023)

    2nd: Loon Mountain, US Vertical Championships (2022)

    6th: Trofeo Nasego (2022)

    1st: Overland TRAIL (2022)

    Represented Team USA at Challenge Stellina and the World Mountain & Trail Running Championships (2022).

Runs For

Upcoming Races.

  • TBD

MY ORIGINS

While growing up in rural Maine, the only things I had access to were trails in the mountains. Not a whole lot in way of opportunity. I was a kid when running became my escape—what I did when everything else was going poorly. But as that kid got older, I came to realize that running well meant securing myself a scholarship to college. So, I ran with the hope of a better life. When that happened, though, I found that I was a bit lost.

Without noticing, the pieces of running I loved the most had slipped away. The sterile environment that is high-level track wasn’t what I was raised on. I couldn't be myself. I felt trapped somewhere that I wasn't supposed to be. That was until two years ago, when I learned that racing on the trails and in the mountains was a legitimate option—its own discipline, even. Immediately, I knew that a shift was my only way forward.