Katti Jackson — Inner Circle

Inner Circle
Katti Jackson

Two Grindstones.
Two wins.


Mountain runner. 100-mile specialist. Grindstone course record holder. She ran her first ultra in 2022. Her first 100 was Grindstone in 2024, and she won it. Two years later she came back, took 1:45 off her time, and ran 21:46 for the course record and fourth overall. Next year she goes back to Chamonix.

Home
Western North Carolina
Specialty
Mountain 100s
Day job
Registered Dietitian
Also
Cross country coach
Status
Grindstone CR holder
Shop her kit↓ Back to the Inner Circle→
Grindstone 100 course record
21:46
Faster than her 2024 win
1:45
Grindstone 100 starts
2 for 2
Racing ultras since
2022
Katti Jackson running a riverside trail in race bib 64

// Photo: Nick Morgan

01 — The Origin

Fast learner. Faster climber.

HomeWestern North CarolinaSpecialtyMountain 100sFirst ultra2022Day jobRegistered Dietitian, sports nutritionCoachingMiddle and high school cross countryStatusGrindstone 100 course record holder

Katti found ultrarunning in 2022 and took to the mountains fast. By her own account, her first 50K ended in a DNF (Dirt and Vert). She kept showing up anyway.

A year later she was winning races in her own backyard. Mount Mitchell Heartbreaker, twice. The longer the race and the steeper the climb, the better she got (UltraRunning results).

  • Table Rock 50K2022 · Morganton, NC
  • Mount Mitchell Heartbreaker 55K2023 · 1st woman
  • The Naturalist 50K2023 · 2nd woman
  • Mount Mitchell Heartbreaker 50M2024 · 1st woman · 3rd overall
  • Grindstone 1002024 · 1st woman · 23:31:16
  • Georgia Death Race2025 · 4th woman · 14:57:34
  • The Cherokee 70K2025 · 1st overall · CR
  • UTMB Mont Blanc2025 · 33rd woman · 32:28
  • Desert Rats 100K2026 · 7th woman
  • Speedgoat 50K2026 · 5th woman · 6:54
  • Grindstone 1002026 · 1st woman · 4th overall · 21:46 CR
02 — Grindstone

First 100. First place.

Grindstone runs out of Swoope, Virginia, and runs through the George Washington National Forest. It's a UTMB World Series race, and it has a reputation as one of the hardest 100s in the East.

2024 was her first 100 miles. She won the women's race and finished 10th overall in 23:31:16 (results).

2026: she came back, ran 21:46, and broke the course record. Fourth overall. 1:45 faster than her own winning time (Grindstone results).

  • Grindstone 100 · 20241st woman · 10th overall · 23:31:16
  • Grindstone 100 · 20261st woman · 4th overall · 21:46 CR

She did her learning on the course. The second time, the course record went with her.

03 — Mont Blanc

9th to 90th. Then back.

August 2025. UTMB Mont Blanc, the biggest 100 in the sport. Around 170 km and 10,000 meters of climbing around the massif.

Katti was running 9th woman when the weather turned overnight. She had to stop twice for long stretches to warm up and get dry. By the time she moved again she was 90th.

She didn't drop. She worked back through the field for the rest of the race and finished 33rd woman in 32:28.

  • Position before the storm9th woman
  • After two warm-up stops90th woman
  • Finish33rd woman · 32:28

She didn't quit, and she passed 57 women on the way back. That number tells you more about her than any course record.

04 — The Cherokee

First overall. Nobody ahead.

July 2025. The Cherokee 70K, out of Tellico Plains, Tennessee, in the Cherokee National Forest. Hot, humid, and steep.

Katti won it outright: first of 43 finishers, men included, in 8:18:38. Course record (results).

That's also where she met us. She had a conversation with David at the race, and then we sent her samples to test in the mountains. She tells us it holds up.

// Disclosure

FRXN's founders co-direct this race. We didn't give her the win. Everyone else ran slower.

05 — Off the Clock

Coach. Dietitian. Mom.

Katti is a wife and a mom. She coaches a middle and high school cross country team near home.

She's also a Registered Dietitian who works in sports nutrition and general wellness. She understands fueling as a professional and as an athlete, and the athlete side gets tested over 100 miles.

  • FamilyWife · mom
  • CoachingMS/HS cross country
  • WorkRegistered Dietitian
  • Training groundThe Appalachians

She trains in the same mountains we race in. We were bound to meet eventually.

06 — The Protocol

How she handles friction.

// Pending // In her words

Where she applies. Which format. What 30 hours in the Alps did to her kit. Katti is writing this part herself.

Twenty thousand feet of climbing.

Wet socks, a soaked pack, and a waistband that has been rubbing since the first climb. Mile 20 is fine. Mile 80 in the rain is where it decides.

Go Stick
Go Stick
$9.99
Everyday carry. Start here.
View product →
Endurance Tin
Endurance Tin
$15.99
Lives in the drop bag.
View product →
Go Pouch
Go Pouch
$2.99
Rides in the vest. Every aid station.
View product →
08 — Next

2027: back to Chamonix.

Katti returns to UTMB Mont Blanc in 2027 with a score to settle with the weather. Gorge Waterfalls 100K is also on the calendar.

And the project closest to home is an FKT attempt on the Smokies Challenge Adventure Run (SCAR): roughly 70 miles of the Appalachian Trail across Great Smoky Mountains National Park, end to end.

  • UTMB Mont Blanc100M · 2027
  • Gorge Waterfalls100K · 2027
  • SCAR FKT attempt~70M · Smokies
// Follow the file

The Smokies are our backyard. When she goes for SCAR, we'll be there. Updates at @frictionprescription.

On the record.

Every podcast, profile, and result we could find. Newest first.

// Inner Circle

Meet the rest of the circle.

Ten athletes. One file at a time.

Back to the roster →
// The Protocol

Read this before you bleed.

Where to apply, when to reapply, and what 100 miles teaches you.

Read the protocol →
// The Line

Surface friction is solvable.

We make the balm. You handle the rest.

Shop the prescription →
// Embrace the friction. // FRXN // Inner Circle // File 10