The ultra runner talks about how her move from America to Europe, combined with her talent for endurance, led her to become one of the best all-terrain runners in the world.
Katie Schide always knew she had the ability to run for long periods of time and cover long distances. “When I was a kid, I played field hockey very competitively and my strong point was always being able to run all over the field for the entire game without getting as tired as everyone else,” says the American. “He had this resilience.”
What she didn’t realize, however, was that those athletic talents would eventually help her establish herself as one of the best trail and mountain runners in the world. The 33-year-old grew up in Maine and spent much of that time outdoors, regularly accompanying her father on hikes through New England’s spectacular mountain landscapes.
She is also someone who has always run, but it wasn’t until her PhD in geology took her to Switzerland in 2016 and she met her partner, professional trail runner Germain Grangier, that a whole new world began to open up to her.
An unexpected fifth place in the prestigious Livigno Sky Race in 2017 highlighted his promise and provided a crucial springboard. “I’ve basically been living off the sport since 2020,” he says.
Since then, he has achieved victory in some of the most important events in trail running. Schide twice finished first at the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB): in 2022 and then last year, when she broke the course record of 173.3 km (108 miles) in a time of 22:09:31 on a route that also features a total elevation gain of 9,525 m. That same summer he also won the Western States, the oldest 100-mile race in the world, in California.
This year she has found success in the Hardrock 100, setting a women’s record with a time of 25:50:28 that makes her the first woman to finish this notoriously challenging event in under 26 hours. Then, in what was the third edition of the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in the Spanish Pyrenees at the end of September, Schide was a convincing winner in the 82 km Long Trail event.
When she sits down to talk to AW via video call, she does so from the home she shares with Graingier on the edge of the Mercantour National Park, which lies in the shadow of the southern French Alps and provides the perfect training base for the sport that she says brings together everything she loves. He’s still in recovery mode from the efforts of the past few weeks and months, but he’s more than happy to talk about his journey to the top of his chosen profession.
How important is it to become world champion along with everything you’ve achieved so far?
It’s a good question. Our sport is not yet that organized in terms of how competitions are organized and, with different series and different races, there is not a very clear structure.
So sometimes even a career that is not necessarily considered prestigious can end up being extremely competitive and the opposite can also be true. In this case, the world championship race was quite competitive, but I know it’s hard to follow from the outside, because you really have to know all the players and all the races, distances, terrain and locations to really understand every part of it. That’s something trail running really needs to improve on, but hopefully we’ll get there eventually.
As for the World Championship, it has also changed a lot in recent years.
I would say that trail running and vertical racing have always been extremely prestigious, and that hasn’t changed at all in the last 15 or 20 years, but I think we’re still trying to find our footing in how to organize marathon distance and ultra distance events.
Having said all that, I had never been to a world championship, and it was something that had always interested me. I was excited to change it up a little bit, because we can get stuck in the same racing circle and the good thing about the world champions is that they brought something new and exciting.
It’s still a prestigious race and it’s okay to say I won, but every race isn’t just about winning. It’s about how you feel executed that day. In that sense, I’m pretty happy with it and enjoyed the experience. I would be interested in going to another one in the future.
How was it different from an event like the UTMB?
The week leading up to UTMB has essentially become a brand show, which is fine. It is what brings money to the sport and keeps it alive. But I feel like there are almost two tests at UTMB. There’s this trade show and then there’s a race. The world championship was really just a race. It made it feel a little more special that it really focused on the athletes and represented different countries, which I thought was cool.
What is the biggest change you have seen in trail running since you participated?
All the major changes happened after covid. I think there’s just been a resurgence in the outdoor market in general. For me it’s great, but there are always trade-offs. There are the growing pains and the people who were there before… there are always complaints that it’s not like it used to be. But I think you can still find those events “as they used to be” if you want and you can also ride the wave of newer, bigger events if that’s what interests you. I think there is still something for everyone.
On the professional side, there are more people who can do it as a full-time job. When I had my first little associations with some free equipment and maybe some travel support, you could probably count on one hand the number of people making a living from the sport. Now there are a lot more people who can do it full time and really invest all their time and energy into it and really optimize everything. You look at times and performances and the density of the field has just skyrocketed.
Could you have imagined, when you started, that you would eventually end up in this situation?
I didn’t really know what the sport was until 2015, so it wasn’t something I was dreaming about.
When I met Germain I thought he had much more confidence in me than I did myself. He understood the sport better in general than I did and he said to me, “You could be really good.” I’m a competitive person but I thought, “Oh, he’s just being nice,” and every year I got a little better.
My first really good result was in 2017 at the Livigno air race. It’s now called the Golden Trail Series, but it used to be called sky running and was the highest competitive trail running field at all distances. That’s what Germain did when I met him, and that’s why I went to races with him.
I had just arrived in Europe at the end of 2016, so it was nice to have someone show me around. I was in next mode, I did the Livigno race and finished fifth.
Germain had finished and went to the hotel room to change and come back. [to meet me] because he thought he had time. I finished the race and he wasn’t there, and when he came back he said to me: “Have you finished yet? Oh, wow!” It was a big surprise for me and felt like a great result. People often point to my UTMB win in 2022 as my start, but it was much earlier.
It must have been quite a culture shock for you.
When I moved to Zurich in 2016, I had never been to Switzerland before. I had only been to Europe once, and it was in Rome with my high school’s Latin club for a week. This was my introduction to Europe. I guess I can adapt to different places and that’s never been a big problem. I’m good at finding my routines and adapting.
If you took it off, what would you say running gives you?
That has changed a lot over the years. At first when I was working at these cabins in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, it was really just because I loved hiking, being outdoors, finding new trails, and the feeling of being in the mountains.
And then when I was doing my master’s degree in Utah, it was more like my daily exercise. Running has always been what I am passionate about. I’m quite an introvert, and even when I was working in crowded places, for my master’s degree, my PhD, whatever, it’s the time I really have to myself. That has always been an underlying current throughout the many years and the many evolutions that I have had.
Only in college did I run every day. It was just part of my habit and I knew it was something that made me feel better throughout the day. After that I was able to channel part of my competitiveness into sports.
I am really motivated by goals and what helped me throughout my higher education was having goals, small steps each day, things to achieve. [Running] It has allowed me to put all aspects of my interest into one thing.
I love being outside. I love being active. I like to have goals. I like to try to optimize. I love maps. My father was one of the original developers of the inReach mapping app. I grew up around maps and I love planning, so I think the sport has taken everything I love and put it into one activity. At this point, it is beyond providing enjoyment, satisfaction and time outdoors. It’s also my job, so some days that’s the motivator. Not very often, but sometimes.
