Cathy Tibbetts

About

Cathy Tibbetts is an American ultrarunner and multisport endurance athlete from Farmington, New Mexico whose competitive career has spanned three decades. She made her name in the desert at the Marathon des Sables, finishing 3rd overall female in both 1996 and 2000 and 11th overall female in 2001 — a four-time top-10 record at one of the world's toughest stage races. In adventure racing she won the Hi-Tec Adventure Racing Championships Masters division in 1999 and competed at Eco-Challenge in 2000, and on the trails she took 1st-overall-female honors at races including the Mountain Mist 50 Miler (1998) and the Grasslands 50 Miler (2003), the latter with a course record. In 2003 she finished the Hardrock 100, and in 2004 she completed the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning (Western States, Vermont, Leadville and Wasatch Front 100s in a single season). A longtime Ironman age-group competitor with results at the Hawaii Ironman World Championship, she completed the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail on foot in 2025.

Notable Wins

• — Marathon des Sables 3rd overall female 1996
• — Marathon des Sables 3rd overall female 2000
• — Grand Slam of Ultrarunning 2004
• — Hardrock 100 finisher 2003
• — Grasslands 50 Miler 1st female (course record) 2003
• — Hi-Tec Adventure Racing Championships Masters 1999

Race History