Rory Bosio

About

Rory Bosio is an American ultrarunner and pediatric intensive care nurse from Truckee, California, who in August 2013 produced one of the most astonishing performances in the history of trail ultrarunning, winning the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in seventh place overall — the first time in eleven editions of the race that any woman had finished in the men's top ten. Born in 1984 and raised at altitude in the Tahoe mountains, she graduated from the University of California, Davis before taking work as a pediatric intensive-care nurse. In 2013, running without GPS technology or a structured pace plan, she ran the 170km UTMB course in 22 hours, 37 minutes, and 26 seconds — finishing seventh overall and over an hour ahead of the next woman. She returned in 2014 to win again in 23:23, and her combined winning times remained the race's best women's performances by over an hour years after she last competed. Her 2012 Western States 100 finish of 18:08:06 — second, behind Ellie Greenwood's extraordinary course-record 16:47:19 — showed her ability to compete at the highest level in American ultra formats as well. Bosio built her reputation on an approach to racing that was the antithesis of high-performance orthodoxy: she trained without a coach or periodised plan, relying instead on a mountain lifestyle built around skiing, hiking, and outdoor nursing work. Her career became a touchstone for the idea that exceptional mountain performance can emerge from joy and instinct as much as from systematic preparation.

Notable Wins

• — UTMB Mont-Blanc 2013 (22:37:26
• — 7th overall — first woman in top 10 in race history)
• — UTMB Mont-Blanc 2014 (23:23)
• — Western States 100 2nd 2012 (18:08:06)

Race History