2023-08-31 10:24:45
Par Gilles Festor
Posted 4 hours ago, Updated 1 minute ago
In Chamonix, during the 19th edition of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, on August 27, 2022. ZOOM/PRESSE SPORTS/PRESSE SPORTS
STORY – This Friday, 2,300 ultratrailers will take on the UTMB on a 172.9 km course and 10,053 m of elevation gain through three countries (France, Italy and Switzerland). A world reference for a booming discipline, running, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, has never fascinated so much, even if more and more voices are being raised against its commodification and the loss of its original spirit.
A slingshot wind is blowing over the Chamonix valley. The kiss appeared a fortnight ago when Kilian Jornet launched an appeal which had the effect of a small bomb in the middle of the ultratrail. The most famous long-distance runner in the natural environment denounced on social networks the partnership between the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, renamed Dacia UTMB, and the car manufacturer. A sacrilege, he said.
“The places where we practice our activities are changing drastically due to climate change and pollution. The Chamonix Valley has a huge particulate air pollution problem, as its glaciers and ecosystems are rapidly being destroyed,” alerted the quadruple winner of the event, signatory of the petition launched by The Green Runners, an association of athletes concerned about the environmental cause. “Shame on you, UTMB, for promoting the hell they (Dacia, Editor’s note) triggered”rose up the collective in…
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