The first UTMB World Series Finals was an extra special one – I raced it too! All events this year required the hot weather kit and the conditions were favorable but very very hot. I’ll write/talk more at a later time about my race – it was fantastic – but wanted to share the official results – more here.

Women:

1. Miao YAO – China – 05:54:03
2. Judith WYDER – Switzerland – 06:00:05
3. Clémentine GEOFFRAY – France – 06:02:10

238. Julie Urbanski – USA – 11:52:05

Men:

1. Eli HEMMING – USA – 05:11:48
2. Francesco PUPPI – Italy – 05:14:46
3. Antonio MARTINEZ PEREZ – Spain – 05:17:56

1085. Mathias EICHLER – Germany – 12:28:46

The 2024 OCC saw 1,764 Starters, 230 DNFs and 1,534 Finishers. 454 (30%) women and 1080 (70%) men completed the route from Orsières, Switzerland to Chamonix, France and got their magical finish under that incredible blue arch among thousands of cheering fans and supporters. It truly was an experience of a lifetime – let’s do it again next year.

Here are the top finishers of the TDS race, an almost complete French affair. For full results visit the UTMB Live website:

Women:

1. Marie DOHIN – France – 24:06:01
2. Ariane WILHEM – Switzerland – 24:42:03
3. Céline FINAS – France – 25:41:41

Men:

1. Thibault MARQUET – France – 18:59:36
2. Alban BERSON – France – 19:56:40
3. Gautier AIRIAU – France – 20:07:22

This race is hard, harder than it looks but with 1,874 starters and 763 DNF’ed – it shows. There were lots of really early DNFs too, which is a bit surprising to me. 1,111 finished the event in much better weather conditions than last year earning themselves 4 Stones for the Finals.

Only 105 (10%) women finished and 1,006 (90%) men. Not a great ratio for this event that doesn’t require a lottery to enter.

Aravaipa moves popular fixed-time multi-day running event to Peoria Sports Complex in Arizona:

Get ready for a historic year as Across the Years, one of Arizona’s most beloved multi-day running events, moves to its new home at the Peoria Sports Complex.

Announcement on Youtube.

During the busy UTMB week the organization announced another new event and the first event held in Türkiye:

Kaçkar by UTMB takes you from the village of Ayder across the untouched and challenging peaks of the stunning Kaçkar Mountains. It is a tribute to the passion for running and nature. Choose your track and discover Kaçkar one of the three ways.

Held in September and offering a 100K, 50K, and 20K distance this event will be the 23rd event in Europe and their 49th globally?

And yes, the ECC UTMB Calendar is finally up to date again.

Doug Mayer, from Run the Alps summarizing for Trailrunner Magazine the UTMB developments of the past year:

In short, what a year it has been for UTMB.

Reminds me of that 30 Rock meme: “Lemon, it’s Wednesday”.

I was having coffee with Doug as he and Brian Metzler were discussing the final nuances of this piece as it was making its way through the editing process and reading it now a few hours later I think the article does a fair job summarizing the issues that have been bubbling up this past year.

What’s remarkable when one thinks about all these issues is that UTMB addressed them all. Like, all of them. Concerns that were brought to this organization from international runners, some of them speaking with their own national biases and understanding of what trail running should be all about, were addressed by this organization. Maybe some of them were addressed not in the perfect way some had hoped for, but it clearly signaled that UTMB was listening. And further it shows that UTMB does not only have the ambition to be THE World Series, but also has the follow through to be more than a French regional player with an trail running event accidentally in a beautiful place, but they are custodians of a truly global series of trail races.

Spending some time in Chamonix this week I am blown away by the magnitude of the efforts being put in to make this town the global epicenter of trail running. Am I showing my bias? Maybe a little, I love the food here!

Doug quotes Catherine Poletti in the article in response to the criticisms that UTMB wasn’t fast enough to respond:

My hope is that the trail running community understands that we are human…

Human you may be, but there also must be some magic here… cause what you’ve built here is truly astonishing. The initial vision might’ve been simple: “to organize a race running around that big, beautiful mountain outside your town”. But UTMB didn’t stop there and have created a global phenomenon and beautiful sporting event I can barely comprehend. Tomorrow I will wake up early, jump on a bus to Orsières, Switzerland and will run back to Chamonix hoping to gain just a bit more first hand insight on how all these beautiful pieces are coming together to create a memorable moment for runners resulting in the UTMB World Series Finals.

ETC gives you the chance to experience more Courmayeur. Just through the tunnel underneath that mighty mountain lies Italy. And there, TDS and CCC begins – with finishes in Chamonix – and now also the ETC – or Experience Trail Courmayeur. A “short” but “tough 15km race with 1,200 meters of vertical gain. For folks from the PNW, that’s like a race on Mount Rose above Hoodsport. Yeah, that’s steep.

Well, this race too happened today (head spinning continues!) and here are the results of the 2024 edition (for full results click here):

Women:

1. Anaelle BONDOUX – France – 01:32:52
2. Maude MATHYS – Switzerland – 01:34:45
3. Vivien BONZI – Italy – 01:36:43

Men:

1. Lukas EHRLE – Germany – 01:19:56
2. Alex GARCIA CARRILLO – Spain – 01:21:51
3. Daniel PATTIS – Italy – 01:21:55

QUESTION: I know it’s “JUST” ETC and therefore not part of the official World Series Finals, but I am wondering out loud (without having the time to research) if this the first time a German won one of the UTMB races?

The races saw 1,216 Starters, 33 DNFs and 1,183 Finishers. 664 (56%) men and (44%) women finished the race earning their 1 Running Stone for 2025.

There’s something spectacular and almost mad about this UTMB week. There are so many different events starting and finishing and going on at the same time I can barely comprehend what is going on. I stand in awe of the Polettis and the team around them as they build something incredibly beautiful and wonderfully complex. In an article by Doug Mayer published in Trailrunner Magazine Michel Poletti is quoted:

In an interview once, Michel Poletti paused, asking if I had seen a photo of a mutual friend that was making the rounds. He was climbing one of Chamonix’s famed needle-sharp aiguilles, one foot on each side of a razor sharp ridge—a perilous balancing act, big air on each side. It was his metaphor for trying to move ever up, while balancing business growth and heartfelt values.

And while I want to comment on the main points of the article in a later post myself, I wanted to point out this one sentence as I found it fascinating and challenging at the same time. As a business owner myself I know too well the allure of “just adding one more thing”. An event goes off without a hitch and immediately after the successful conclusion one dreams of adding more, improving, and growing, but not every time this is the right call. But here in Chamonix, watching what UTMB has built over the years and is continuing to grow I am just in awe that it all works together and fits. I don’t see people running around like mad, I see no stress. Just folks everywhere doing their thing, amidst the regular tourists, the mountaineers, the locals and of course the racers and support. TDS is one of those additions to the UMTB week that’s sort of hard to fit into the narrative, the official description and explanation of the event is even complicated:

Beautiful, technical, wild, demanding, there are not enough adjectives to describe the TDS. Acronym for “Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie” (following the footprints of the Dukes of Savoie), the TDS links the Aosta Valley to the Savoie, allowing you to discover the villages of the Tour du Mont-Blanc and the mountains that surround them.

There’s a romance the French have with their language and in branding that sort of is hard to grasp. In the US we would either just name the race by the distance or give it some comical name that’s both silly and also a bit tough sounding (Mad Rabbit 100 or something…). But back to TDS. The event isn’t like PTL which is REALLY different as a team race and with barely any route-markings. But it also doesn’t go on the trails of the main UTMB route like CCC and OCC. The race goes the opposite direction, starts in Courmayeur in the middle of the night (quite literally at 11:50pm) and uses more technical terrain, resulting in a slightly shorter race than UTMB but considered harder than UTMB itself. This year for the first time folks running it are awarded with 4 Running Stones, but the race is not officially part of the World Series Finals. It also doesn’t require a lottery and took awhile to sell out.

As I type this the first finisher are less than 15km from the UTMB arch in downtown Chamonix, the race has been going for over 18 hours and of the 1,874 starters there are already 443 DNFs – and that’s on a day that has seen incredibly favorable weather – not like last year.

These courageous TDS runners have been battling the mountains all night and all day, while I have been floating around Chamonix, eating gelato and enjoyed being a tourist (and picking up my bib for OCC), and then I sort of remembered that this event is going on and I should probably head to the finish line to cheer the first runners in – but first, more gelato. Live tracking can be found here, more info on the race here.

Here’s the podium of the first race of the UTMB week – the MCC, the event for partners and volunteers of UTMB (brilliant idea to offer an event like this, btw):

Women:

1. Iris PESSEY – France – 04:12:41
2. Elodie ALEXANDRE – France – 04:30:35
3. Stéphanie MANIVOZ – France – 04:33:21

Men:

1. Kevin VERMEULEN – France – 03:34:39
2. Thomas BUTEZ – France – 03:36:33
3. Cesar COSTA – Switzerland – 03:38:22

Overall the race had 1,147 Starters, 55 DNFs and 1,092 Finishers. 769 (70%) men and 323 (30%) women finished the race and earned themselves 2 Running Stones. For full results check the Live Results page on UTMB.World.

The 40K race from Switzerland to Chamonix is kicking off at 10am local time:

From Martigny-Combe to Chamonix, the MCC is a 40 km race reserved primarily for UTMB volunteers, partners and local residents.

MCC is a shorter OCC course, connecting with the UTMB course in Trient and will award 2 Running Stones. 1,000 runners will be at the starting line.

Live tracking can be found here.

Live tracking can be found here.

Craig Thornley, race director of Western States is back with his team ‘Rusty Nails‘. After their DNF in 2022 they are giving it another go. (That’s how far back my result sleuthing goes, if I missed a result I apologize.)

Via their newsletter and on the official UTMB calendar of events:

Mile & Stone is organizing, on behalf of UTMB Group, roundtable discussions on the future of Trail Running: Future of Trail Talks.

These roundtable discussions will take place from 12pm to 1pm every day of the week, from Monday to Sunday (except Wednesday and Saturday), at the new fan zone in the central village of Chamonix.

I’m excited to check a few of these out this week. This feels like it was inspired by the Trail Conference back in June in Olympic Valley.

Craig Randall writing for GearJunkie (a website all about celebrating commercialism):

This project is perhaps a response to a growing cynicism that exists today toward trail running and its culture. Stripping back the experience to one of his own making (and backing), Jornet is using his stature in the sport to help communicate a different message. 

Craig talks about Kilian’s ‘Alpine Connections’ project, a marketing project for NNormal and personal mountain project by Kilian Jornet. Rumors have it that Kilian will finish things of with climbing Mont Blanc right around the time UTMB runners are out there circumnavigating the mountain. So, I am sorry if I am a bit cynical here and think this project isn’t an act of rebellion, and this isn’t some deeper message of “do-gooder-y”. In Europe climbing all 82 4,000 meter peaks is quite popular (Crigel Maurer just did it earlier in the year, and Ueli Steck’s record had been broken since by others). Kilian choosing this project so late in the summer – to coincide with UTMB week – when the snow up high isn’t great anymore makes me think trying to capitalize on the media hype around UTMB might’ve played more of a role here than trying to find the coolest (or fastest) line on the mountains.

Matt Walsh in his Substack ‘Trailmix’:

It was looking like UTMB was losing touch with the athletes that made the race the icon it is in a death-by-a-thousand-cuts style. Then, on 13th March, the line-ups for all UTMB races were announced with some of the deepest fields the event has ever seen.

Was it all a tempest in a social media tea cup?

I would actually turn this thinking around and wonder if this was the year where the athletes learned what social media is, what it can be, and what it often turns into: A zero sum game, counter productive to discourse. Just look at what happened this past week with Tommy Caldwell, and what he learned from his experience:

My experiment to use instagram as a place for discussion might have ended up changing my relationship with the platform altogether.

I mean, sorry but ‘DUH! Tommy has over 800K followers. If he posts something there’s bound to be someone taking offensive to it, or someone misunderstanding, or someone wanting to grind an axe. Social media is great for brands, and individuals can become brands on there but MUST separate their personal life and feeling from how they portrait themselves on these platforms.

Given the fact that many of the outspoken voices against UTMB from earlier in the year are back in Chamonix anyways, it seems to me that trail runners too are learning these lessons the hard way.

UTMB’s blockbuster race in the Alsace region of France will be seeing a couple of changes to their 100M distance race. Registration is already open for all races but it seems that the starting point of the 100M has been moved from Colmar to Turckheim – five miles from Colmar. The final route and mileage has also not been announced yet. I wonder what prompted that change?

Speaking of creating “unofficial” marketing around the UTMB week: Patagonia will have their ‘Worn Wear’ team at their store Aug 28-29. The store in Chamonix was Patagonia’s first store in Europe, opened in 1987.

From the UTMB Press Kit:

The development of the HOKA UTMB® Mont-Blanc, particularly in Chamonix, and the influx of spectators have created numerous opportunities for brands seeking to reach trail enthusiasts. This has sometimes led to excesses, such as unauthorized advertising and distribution of products, that impact the local community. To deal with these ambush marketing practices and protect the integrity of the event, UTMB Group has put in place several strict measures…

This is a new one in the press kit, as far as I can tell, and clearly with ultra trail running spanning miles and miles of trail there are tons of opportunities for “non-sanctioned” brands to get in on the action, on the cheap. Don’t pay the sponsor fee, but show up and try to draw attention to your products in a creative way.

UTMB isn’t the Olympics (yet), but they also ask for lots of cash from their sponsors and in exchange need to protect these partnership by giving these brands exclusive access.

To promote an environment of cooperation, the HOKA UTMB® Mont-Blanc opens a dialogue with brands to validate their promotional activities in advance of the event. In exchange, the brands undertake to sign a charter respecting local marketing rules, in accordance with the Chamonix advertising regulations.

They have thought about it and can’t lock down the entire valley and give it to Hoka – even if they’d probably would love that. There’s a Salomon store in town, The North Face has special events planned all week and many other brands as well. Brooks has ads on the back of buses and the AlpyTransfer I took from Geneva to Chamonix and they had a paraglider with the Brooks logo on their chute, flying over the city all day. Surely these efforts are fine and acceptable, but I wonder where this crosses the line?

For example, if a brand would setup an additional aid station along the course at one of the Refugios, this would be one step too far.

I heard that Nike had a shoe giveaway at this year’s Western States and was offering all runners with a valid bib a free pair of shoes if they showed up at their pop up store set up somewhere beyond the main festivities. I wonder how Western States sponsor Hoka felt about that? And I wonder if there’s something that even can be or should be done about this?

Announced via Instagram:

This year we’re live-streaming from the Norda chalet in Chamonix. We’ll talk with the athletes and get hands on with the new Norda 005 super shoe.

Now, where is that Norda chalet? I want to crash that party.

Via their Instagram account:

For the second year, we’ll be hosting our daily show from the heart of Chamonix — Trailgating around the biggest event in our sport.

Now rebranded to ‘Trailgaiting’, which has been their brand of supporting shows of the last few big events (last year Freetrail called their show ‘Good Morning, Mont Blanc’).

One interesting tidbit in the announcement:

Note that most of the coverage will not be live, but uploaded after we record to account for the UTMB live race coverage and media rules.

Off note: Corinne Malcolm will be in Chamonix as part of the Freetrail coverage and the ‘Here for the Women’s Race’ effort will have a Hoka-supported presence at their ‘basecamp’.

Updated with link to their announcement on their website.

What’s been in the trail running news these past couple of weeks with Kilian’s effort climbing the 4000M Peaks has been accomplished earlier in the year by Swiss RedBull XAlps Champion Chrigel Maurer:

Chrigel successfully finished his ambitious project XPEAKS with his friend Peter von Känel. In 51 days, including 12 rest days, they were the first to reach the highest mountains in the Alps by foot and paraglider. They covered a total of 565 km and 71,645 metres in altitude on foot and also spent 62 hours in the air with their paragliders. They carried the essential equipment for climbing and flying themselves, with each backpack weighing around 15kg.

Of course there is a website documenting their effort and while Ueli Steck used bikes (and the occasional paraglider) to move between the mountains their self-imposed rules only allowed for foot travel and paragliding.

Quindío Trail Colombia and Chihuahua Mexico will join the UTMB World Series in 2025, bringing the Series to 46 events across the globe.

Both events will be offering all the distance categories. Quindío Trail Colombia will be held May 2-5 and Chihuahua Mexico on Oct 2-4.

This brings the total of World Series events in all of the Americans to 13 (including Western States).

Yes, I really need to get on updating that World Series calendar… severally lagging behind – I apologize.