The Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc is a red-letter day in the trail running community, with the population of the idyllic Alpine town of Chamonix drawing in around 100,000 runners, fans and journalists every year for an action-packed week of racing. But what exactly is the UTMB and how does it all work?
What is the UTMB?
The Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc is a 100m trail race created in 2003, renowned worldwide as an incredibly impressive feat. Brave runners must traverse 10,000 of elevation around Mont Blanc, taking some over 45 hours. Ultra runner Kilian Jornet holds the course record with 19:49:30, the only sub-20-hour finish time in the race’s history, set in 2022. Courtney Dewaulter set the women’s course record in 2021 with 22:30:54.
As well as the legendary 100m UTMB, you’ll find ultra runners taking on several other race distances in the mountains surrounding Chamonix as August turns to September. The other key distances, alongside the 100m UTMB, are the 50K ultra OCC (Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc Orsières-Champex-Chamonix) and the 100K CCC (Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix).
Who can enter the UTMB?
Around 2,300 runners will take on the UTMB, with a total of 10,000 runners across the various race distances over the course of the week. Like many other…
