By Mathias Eichler
Honest conversations with trail running industry pros, and fans who love the mountains. One of the longest running podcast in the scene. This is Singletrack.
Antonin Cotte a French strategist in sport & entertainment writes on LinkedIn in a length blog post titled “UTMB has a problem that money cannot solve.” (auto-translated):
The UTMB is no longer merely a race with sponsors; it is a group whose business is selling access—access to a legendary starting line, access to a captive audience for brands, and access to licensing rights for local organizers worldwide. This model has enabled the group to multiply its revenue and build a circuit of 65 events in just a few years.
However, a model based on the scarcity of a unique location (the Chamonix Valley) carries within it an inherent limit to growth. Unlike acquiring a studio or forming a technology partnership, this ceiling cannot be overcome with a check; it requires negotiation with local officials, whose patience—unlike the group’s revenue—does not grow by 15% annually.
The question facing UTMB Group in the coming years is therefore no longer whether the demand exists—for it clearly does, and in abundance. Rather, the question is whether a business model built on continuous expansion can survive in a territory that, for the first time in twenty years, is clearly telling it that it has reached its limit.
Clearly this issue isn’t going away for UTMB and Antonin makes a good point. UTMB, while still majority owned by the Poletti family is more now part of a bigger private equity play as Matt Trappe puts it in his blog post from today (which I get to later):
Advance Publications (and its private equity partner Okila Capital) ultimately own 45% of UTMB – a technical minority but a lot. Advance is privately held and also owns Condé Nast (think Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker). Advance/Okila bought Ironman in 2020.
So, while the Polettis still have a lot of pull in the valley they also have to answer for that bigger monstrosity behind it that’s forcing the revenue acceleration. Or better: Okila Capital can’t be hiding behind the Polettis while strip mining the Chamonix Valley. That much is clear.
But the piece that I see missing in this cry about the beloved Chamonix Valley is the reality that the valleys in the Alps are built on tourism and regular sporting events. Chamonix hosted the first Winter Olympics! How many climbing competitions, skiing events, and other activities are annually in Chamonix and the surrounding area? And, this is not me being facetious, I genuinely don’t know. Are we at a place with trail running that a UTMB event is already bigger than the Ski World Cup? Maybe these competition travel more and aren’t in the same valley every year? Maybe skiing really is already dwarfed by trail running – but if so, that would be big news, in my opinion.
BTW, Audi is the title sponsor for the Alpine World Cup. Azerbaijan, the country is the “Global Destination Partner”. Do you think there are any environmental concern that are being talked about for this tour?
Seems that an event with just as many runners on the trails of the Chamonix valley does not pose the same problems for the locals. So why the call to reduce the “number of participants” for UTMB? Is it because:
Mont Blanc Marathon is a trail running event organized by the Club des Sports de Chamonix, a nonprofit organization founded in 1905.
Which is a total fair differentiator, in my book. Or is it that when voices call for a “reduction of UTMB” they really are calling for a curbing of the brand activations alongside the actual races? We shall see.
I really wasn’t going to write about Brian Metzler’s article in Trailrunner about Gary Cantrell “Laz” visiting Chamonix during UTMB week. But, after Trailrunner promoted the article on Instagram with the tagline “Gary “Lazarus Lake” Cantrell Came to UTMB. He May Know How to Save It.” I thought, hey, I am rage baited, let’s go.
American media reaps the benefits of publishing in English. Therefore, by default and not because they’ve earned it, they are reaching a much larger audience than just their regional language silo. That’s something folks in Europe struggle with as their trail media often stays regional due to the language barrier. I don’t know what Trailrunner’s ambition is. By covering an international event I would wager though that they are interested in reaching an audience that’s more than just their regional/national readers. But these sort of headlines/taglines – and the attitude behind it – is exactly why the rest of the world shakes their head at Americans and how they present themselves to them. Especially in times like these – hello Lake Ontario! – a bit of respect and courtesy would go a long way.
In today’s UTMB article (Updated my number of how many UTMB related articles Trailrunner posted!) titled “How to Recover From UTMB (Even if You Didn’t Race)” we get the following sentence:
Are you experiencing less content of Ben Dhiman’s dominance, Lauren Gregory’s grit, or Blandine L’Hirondel’s bawling?
Why do we give the American winners positive nouns “dominance” and “grit” while the French winner of UTMB is just “bawling”?
This is so embarrassing.
Via their brand new Instagram page:
8 EVENTS.
A NATIONAL SERIES.
A SEASON OF SKYRUNNING.
A couple of the accounts that were linked to this announcement are:
Exciting times in North American skyrunning.
Side note: I posted this late last night and omitted to mention that the main welcome graphic is AI generated slop – that’s not a good look. Can’t be that hard to find some photographers who have some cool skyrunning pics laying around, right?
Canadian Running not burying the lede:
The case is closed
And followed up with the full details (you can just read the glee in their voices when they wrote this):
Judge Rosemary Marquez of the District Court for the District of Arizona granted the company’s motion to dismiss the suit, on the grounds that the court has no jurisdiction to hear the case in Arizona, since the company does not have business there.
This was only the first of several lines of defence brought by the company; the judge did not consider the others, which included, among other things, that the allegations in the article are true (and therefore not libellous), and that the suit violates Arizona’s anti-SLAPP legislation (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), which protects free speech.
For any folks who love being rule followers by nature this should come as no surprise – there was never a case to begin with.
Speaking of AI, Adam Robinson reports for the local ABC affiliate in Sisikiyou County, CA:
One climber had used the AllTrails phone app during the climb up the mountain, but the phone battery died. A backup battery charger did not work, the USFS said. The group mostly relied on sight while descending, though one climber had a Garmin watch.
The USFS said the climbers told them they had used an artificial intelligence platform, YouTube videos and AllTrails to plan the trip. They said they relied on AI to decide what food to bring and how much food and water they would need.
I want to write a snarky comment here, but what is there left to say?
LiveTrail sent out an email today alerting it’s users of unauthorized access to their servers:
In a context of increasing cyberattacks, we are writing to inform you of a security incident that affected LiveTrail and certain data associated with your account.
The app has been around since 2023 and bills itself as a race companion and tracking app. It’s privately co-owned by Isabelle Viseux Poletti, daughter of Catherine and Michel Poletti. As a result of this close connection the app is mandatory for all UTMB runners and used heavily, but not exclusively, at many of the UTMB World Series events.
Since I’m a general AI hater I’m just gonna go out on a limb and suggest that this breach was because they used AI to develop the V3 version of their app. Again, I have no idea if any of this is true. Just before UTMB Finals week, the team did just release an updated version of the interface, which also enhanced the UTMB Live interface with several features.
The UTMB website has the new race listed on their website’s event drop down overlay thingy, but the link to the actual subdomain is currently still password protected. The event will be called: ‘Jujuy Fuerza Sagrada‘ and is, according to the thumbnail, scheduled for 1-4 April, 2027. There’s also a hype video on YouTube that’s currently set to private.
Once officially confirmed I’ll add the event to the ECC UTMB World Series Calendar.
It seems that the trail media is back on board, and so are the main voices and talking heads of our sport. After several years of calling for boycotts and complaints about various decisions UTMB made, this year felt like a sea change. There were no asterisks, no snarky side tones, no whiney blog posts, podcasts, or lengthy Instagram posts complaining about cheese and other cultural misunderstandings1. And those few and far between seemed to have been grasping for straws and fishing for clout. The athletes are all back in town, and so are the influencers2. The brands never left and doubled down this year. And if there’s one thing people had to quibbled with it’s the over saturation of brand presences in the valley. Everyone wants to outdo the other and hopes for a bit of the shine of the valley rubbing off on them. But as it comes to UTMB the storylines are all largely positive. Folks expressed their excitement to have spend some time in the shadows of Mont Blanc. No one mentioned Ironman all week long. Everyone of name wanted to be there, or kept it to themselves if their brand forced them anyways – maybe the paychecks increased?
Yes, there is that story about the mayor of Chamonix, but this is about local politics and doesn’t affect our sport. Well, maybe the outcome of it will, but I am confident that the team around Catherine and Michel Poletti are confident that they are able to come to an amicable solution for all parties – they live in town after all and want to show their face at the local boulangerie on the weekends. This is also an issue one can resolve sitting around a table and not one being discussed on social media – which is a huge bonus.
And to show just how confident UTMB is in their position, Michel Poletti ran the full UTMB loop around Mont Blanc again, in his 70s, and finishing it in 1,578th place, winning is age group in 44:58:26. (This was his tenth attempt and after DNF’ing in 2023 and 2025 he finished it again – congrats!) What a way to say: this is our race and this is our home. We’re real trail runners and we’re here to stay.
__________
1 Maybe it helped that American runners stood on a lot of podiums. This gave the mostly American media lots to cheer for and not look for answers excuses on why their runners didn’t do better – was it the Sodastream cola?
2 Several of the influencers and media writers were trying to sounds more level-headed in their brand sponsored write-ups about their UTMB visit by parroting the mayor’s concern about overcrowding in the valley – but they themselves were there for the brands, and the activations, and the parties – and not the actual races. So they themselves are in the perfect position to fix their own problem.
One thing that came out of this year’s UTMB coverage – especially on Instagram – is the fascinating increase in “data visualization” from several media outlet and social account. What used to feel like a labor of love coming from someone with a good understanding of pivot tables has now turned into a frenzy of posts by folks trying to “tell the story”.
How much of this data gathering is AI driven? Don’t answer that.
The data accounts have become the new ‘hot takers’. Everyone shares a data point and hopes a story emerges from it. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am here for it. Even if it means we’re getting a dozen posts sharing the top shoes worn on the podiums and the fastest splits between aid stations. Something good will come from it. And will find it and link to it.
Raziq Rauf on Ben Dhiman’s performance:
After 48 hours of social posts and news stories about Ben Dhiman winning UTMB, is anyone other than me celebrating the biggest race in the trail-ultra calendar being won by a man of South Asian heritage? I haven’t seen any. If you have, please tell me because I want to be friends with them.
I didn’t get a chance to actually do the research on Ben’s heritage and for that I apologize, but yes, his achievement is very much worth celebrating.
I love UTMB’s focus on adaptive athletes (as featured in TRFF’26) and their stories:
The first amputee athlete to finish the UTMB. A tibial amputee following a workplace accident at the age of 18, Julien has never stopped rebuilding himself and pushing his limits. After dominating the MCC in 2024 and the CCC in 2025, today he achieves his wildest dream.
Jonathan Naboulet and the entire Trail Sans Limite team have just achieved the impossible. For the very first time, a joëlette has completed the entire UTMB course, with absolutely no shortcuts, and within the official cut-off times!
Left quadriplegic following a rugby accident, Jonathan, supported by a collective of 42 guides taking turns on the trails, powerfully proves that the mountains are accessible to all. After finishing the OCC in 2024 and the CCC in 2025, the loop is completed in the most beautiful way in 2026.
I mentioned this before, but I witnessed one of these teams when I ran OCC in 2024, maybe even Jonathan Naboulet himself, I don’t remember. But man, these stories get me every time. Love it so much.
From the NPS press release:
Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel Campground, the Phantom Ranch Canteen and cabins, and the entire North Kaibab Trail from the North Kaibab Trailhead to Phantom Ranch are closed until further notice. The Black Bridge and Silver Bridge crossing the Colorado River are also closed until further notice. There is currently no estimated reopening date for these areas and other inner canyon closures may be necessary.
Several dozen people have had to be evacuated, but no injures were reported. The NPS news release I quoted from was inaccurate and a newer one now mentions the follow:
The National Park Service is asking the public to provide information for more than 20 individuals who may be missing or unaccounted for following a significant flash-flood event in Bright Angel Canyon and the Phantom Ranch area on August 29.
That certainly sounds a lot more serious than previously reported.
10,566 runners participated in the seven races: TDS, MCC, ETC, PTL, OCC, CCC, UTMB in 2026. I did not include the YCC youth races in this calculation. That’s about a 2% reduction in field size, which feels like a rounding error and don’t think indicates a trend.
The more interesting numbers to compare are the individual races. It seems UTMB really reshuffled the number of runners they allowed in several of the races. Here are the starters for each of the race compared with previous years:
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UTMB | 2,761 | 2,492 | 2,407 |
| CCC | 2,270 | 2,127 | 1,974 |
| OCC | 1,764 | 1,568 | 1,945 |
| TDS | 1,874 | 1,934 | 1,290 |
| MCC | 1,147 | 1,198 | 1,456 |
| ECC | 1,216 | 1,332 | 1371 |
| PTL* | 120 | 121 | 123 |
*PTL show numbers of teams.
TDS saw a huge drop in starter numbers, and a smaller drop for CCC. These numbers which were redistributed to MCC, OCC, ETC – the shorter distances. Is this a fluke, a response to the fairly high DNF rate in the longer distances, or UTMB trying to reduce the number of runners on the trails for sustainability purposes, I don’t know.
UTMB Week 2026 had 10,566 runners starting the various races (again, not counting the youth races). And there were a combined total of 8,246 finishers. 2,227 (27%) women and 5,935 (73%) men reached the finish line (I took the PTL team event out of this calculation here.) That’s a 2% (finisher!) growth in women participation over last year.
As previously reported Jeff, while running TDS, had a serious cardiac emergency and was airlifted to a hospital. The campaign mentions a few more tidbits and some updates on Jeff’s condition:
While competing in the TDS race at UTMB near Chamonix, France, Jeff suffered a serious cardiac emergency. The race and emergency medical teams responded quickly, provided lifesaving care, and airlifted him to a hospital, where he underwent an emergency procedure to place three stents.
Jeff has regained consciousness, and his doctors are optimistic about his recovery. He is expected to remain in France for at least the next couple of weeks before he is cleared to travel home.
Emphasis added by me.
If you can, please support Jeff and his family.
John Sudden over at Over the Ridgeline digs into the forecast data to make sense of it all. At a glance:
OCC – Thursday:
Conditions for OCC seem significantly warmer than originally forecasted.
CCC – Friday:
Friday’s CCC appears to be both cooler at the start of the race, and warmer later in the race, than originally forecasted, but off only by a handful of degrees. Friday is still forecasted to be warmer than last year, but cooler than 2024.
UTMB – Saturday:
Looks like Saturday is forecasted to be slightly cooler in some spots, warmer in other spots, compared to the Open-Meteo forecast from late last week.
UTMB happens in mountain terrain and mountain weather can happen at any time. But so far at least it doesn’t seem to be as challenging of conditions as we dealt with last year.
This news made it through the inter-grapevines yesterday and sadly got confirmed this morning via an official post from Jeff’s family on his IG account:
During the TDS race at UTMB in Chamonix, Jeff suffered a heart attack. He received immediate medical treatment from the race and emergency medical teams before being airlifted to the hospital, where he remains under medical care.
Sending all the prayers and well-wishes to Jeff and his family at this moment.
Every year it’s the same in the Chamonix Valley. Tens of thousands of runners are gathering for the UTMB Finals, the fields of each of the races are stacked to the gills promising the most historic battles and then the carnage begins before the runners even leave the start like.
Some can’t get their injuries under control, others get sick during (and I am talking about stomach bugs here!) taper time. The list of folks who announced the DNS is already too long to list here. It’s a huge bummer for fans and something the brands need to get under control. This week, these races, are too important for their runners and for the brand’s exposure. Maybe I’m asking too much here, but this feels like way too much of a coincidence to happen year after year to not look at possible prevention scenarios.
Gotta interrupt the endless and ongoing barrage of UTMB content for a very important post. Writer for our “big local paper”, The Seattle Times, Gregory Scruggs came out to race our Beast of Big Creek Skyrace earlier this month and he wrote an article about it all: “Mount Ellinor hosts WA’s first world series trail running race”. The article is paywalled, like most newspaper articles these days, I am working on getting a gift link/PDF version for ya’ll. And if you’re local you can pickup a print copy of The Seattle Times this coming Sunday with the article in it, I am told.
A couple of highlights from the article:
For the Skyrunner World Series, the U.S. return was a chance to grow a niche sport in North America. For foreign athletes, the Aug. 1 race was an introduction to Pacific Northwest mountain culture. And for local runners, it was a rare chance to lace up next to some of the world’s top athletes.
This is why I did this. Over three years of work went into bringing the Skyrunner World Series back to U.S. soil, but bringing people from all over the world together, to share a common love for mountains, for trail running, that’s what it’s all about for me and why I love these big global race series’.
So, how did Beast of Big Creek end up on this global elite sporting calendar? For Olympia-based race director Mathias Eichler, of Rock Candy Running, the rationale was simple: “Yes, it’s part marketing, but it’s also a good way of bringing the trail running community together.”
That attitude stands somewhat at odds with other North American race directors, who have historically been less enamored of the international racing circuit. In 2017, directors of nine U.S. races, including the Cascade Crest 100, issued an open letter explaining why they refused to pay fees to count as qualifiers for the UTMB. (Beast of Big Creek, Leavenworth Ski Hill 50K, Skyline 25K and North Bend Skyline 30K are UTMB Index races, meaning competitors earn points that grant privileges when registering for UTMB majors.)
“That attitude stands somewhat at odds with others…” This is me, in a nutshell. You’re welcome!
By DNS’ing himself and using his valuable time in town to meet with François-xavier Laffin, the mayor of Chamonix to discuss UTMB’s issues. Following the conversation the mayor shared the following on Instagram:
…
Our visions align on many points with this incredible champion—a four-time UTMB Mont-Blanc winner—including the need to restore balance and gradually scale back this magnificent race.
…
Kilian’s brand NNormal is also in Chamonix hosting seven events throughout the week:
This year, NNormal invites you to experience durability beyond our products. Join us for gear tests, conversations, film screenings and guided mountain experiences with athletes and partners. Come to run, learn and connect.
I wonder if this came up in the conversation with the mayor?
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