Katie DeSplinter Grossman

After a successful high school career as a 400m and 800m runner, I went on to attend the University of Missouri where I became a collegiate national champion… as a dancer.

Then, after quitting running forever (read: one month), I decided to run a marathon, mainly because I thought I’d be terrible at it (verdict: I was). It was only after I moved to Los Angeles, CA that I discovered that sometimes certain land is higher than other land and you can run up to the top and see cool things.

I ran my first ultra out of curiosity more than anything, and like most of us, became enamored with the trails, the community and the intrigue of doing something that is completely unreasonable.

Through the years, I’ve experienced my fair share of successes – wins at the classic Bishop High Sierra 50-miler, the Ozark Trail 100 in my home state, a sub-24 silver buckle at Western States and three top-5 finishes at my local 100 – Angeles Crest. I prefer rugged, tough races with as many obstacles as possible – technical terrain, weather, elevation, ungodly heat, exposure – and actually get excited when there is a required gear list for safety. I don’t consider myself particularly talented, just particularly tough. Hopefully this will serve me well this summer at my dream race – the Hardrock 100.

Hometown:  St. Charles, MO

Residence: Wrightwood, CA

Footwear:  New Balance

Website: www.kdgrossman.com

Social:              

Favorite Beer:  Mammoth Brewing Co. Double Nut Brown

Best recovery meal:  I always want cheese…ALL of the cheese. 

Guilty Pleasure:  Bourgie coffee; partial to single origin Ethiopians

Other Hobbies:  Dancing, writing, hot yoga-ing, snowshoeing, slacklining, making pies, crafting all of the things

Best thing about VFuel:  Over the past few years, I’ve seen great results with adding a bit of fat into my nutrition for long races. VFuel is infinitely more convenient than carrying an avocado over a mountain pass, not to mention more easy to digest when I’m working hard.

Favorite trail running memory:  Dom (Grossman) proposing at the finish line of UTMB.  And the French announcer asked if he was sure it was a good idea, because he probably wasn’t thinking clearly after running around the Alps for 29 hours. And the whole time, me thinking he was about to ask me if I had gotten him the cheeseburger he requested. (I did.)

Running Accomplishments:

2016 Georgia Death Race, 4th place
2015 Run the Rut 50K, 16th place
2015 Angeles Crest 100, 4th place
2015 Lake Sonoma 50, 21st place
2015 Gorge Waterfalls 50K, 5th place
2015 Black Canyon Ultras 100K, 4th place
2014 Angeles Crest 100, 5th place
2014 San Juan Solstice 50, 14th place
2014 Shadow of the Giants 50K, 5th place
2014 Bishop High Sierra 50, 1st place
2014 Gorge Waterfalls 100K, 4th place
2013 Zane Grey 50, 12th place
2012 Ozark Trail 100, 1st place
2012 Western States 100, 25th place
2012 Miwok 100K, 14th place
2012 Old Goats 50, 4th place
2012 Malibu Creek 50K, 1st place
2011 Rio Del Lago 50K, 1st place
2011 Angeles Crest 100, 4th place
2011 Bishop High Sierra 50, 4th place
2010 High Desert 50K, 8th place
2010 Dick Collins Firetrails 50, 10th place
2010 Miwok 100K, 42nd place
2010 Rocky Raccoon 100, 49th place
2009 XTERRA Topanga Turkey Trot 15K, 12th place
2009 Javalina Jundred 100, 7th place
2009 Bulldog 50K, 18th place
2009 Headlands Hundred 50 Miler, 5th place
2009 Shadow of the Giants 50K, 12th place