The Business of UTMB

Seth Lareau on his blog Trail Waves ponders the business of UTMB and it’s effects on the sport of trail running:

But UTMB is more than just the world’s biggest ultramarathon. It’s a finely-tuned business machine that creates winners, losers, and long-term trade-offs for the sport.

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I’ll comment below on some of Seth’s points, and who he considers the “losers” in this UTMB World Series, he equates to the Disney+ of trail running.

Losers: Independent Races
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Over time, events without stones or Western States qualifiers risk being seen as second-tier, regardless of quality.

Is this something that is actually, truly happening? Is there any proof of this? And even if runners are picking UTMB races particularly to get their Stones independent races can still be UTMB index races (and this is free for race directors to participate as supposed to the ITRA system). Further if the UTMB spectacle increases the visibility of trail running as a sport it also increases interest and participation, which benefits independent races everywhere. So, not just is this point entirely unproven, I would bet it’s completely unfounded and wrong.

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Loser: Mid-pack and Back-of-the-Pack Runners
For everyday runners who just want to participate in cool events, the system gets more expensive and complex.

The new system is actually simpler and more straightforward than it was before. Previously UTMB relied on independent RD’s to register their race with ITRA to be eligible for qualification points. This resulted in runners signing up for races with the hope of getting qualifying points only to find out that the RD didn’t re-up their membership for the following year. Also, what are the alternatives to an event that’s way overbooked? The Boston Marathon system? Where folks run the qualifying time only to find out month later that the published time still wasn’t good enough?

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Loser: Trail Running’s Grassroots Culture
Trail running’s local, quirky, community-driven spirit risks being overshadowed by UTMB’s polished corporate model. As the brand scales globally, race formats and vibes become more homogenized.

UTMB has 60 events globally and only six of them are in the US. There are thousands of trail races just in the US alone. This math just doesn’t add up in any universe that a handful of races “overshadow” the grassroots culture North American trail races pride themselves to have.

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Seth sees a big paradox in an events management company running a business in the trail running space.

The question is: do we want the future of trail running to look like UTMB?

A question he never answered himself, and he offers no solutions to any of these perceived challenges.

The question I am asking myself is why these types of articles always show up around UTMB week? Is that just hidden jealousy? As once a year the trail world is completely enthralled by this incredible spectacle that is the UTMB Mont Blanc in Chamonix. And for that one week in late August every run, every trail, and every race just pales in comparison. And finally, of course these types of articles are written for the anti-UTMB cheerleaders to step up and proclaim ‘right on’ and throw words like monopolization around like they know what they are talking about. Sigh, every year, without fail.