The approximately 2,300 competitors of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), the queen of mountain running, started on Friday in front of an enthusiastic crowd in a Chamonix adorned and bursting at the seams.
The course, 176.4 kilometers long with nearly 10,000 meters of positive elevation gain, circles Mont-Blanc with several high-altitude sections above 2,500 meters, under high temperatures. The organizers announced the activation of the “heatwave kit,” requiring runners to carry extra water and sun protection.
The fastest are expected back at the starting point at the foot of the Western Alps giant within about twenty hours. For many participants, the main goal is to complete this daunting course, all within 46h30 to be certified as a “finisher.”
Among the favorites for the men, the 2023 edition winner, American Jim Walmsley, aims for a double win in his sixth participation in the event.
He is competing against other established champions such as the Frenchmen Mathieu Blanchard, Ludovic Pommeret, Germain Grangier, and Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz, the reigning champion of the Diagonale des Fous (La Réunion) last autumn, as well as British runner Tom Evans.
In the women’s category, the race appears more open in the absence of the titleholder, American Courtney Dauwalter. However, big names in the discipline include American Katie Schide, winner of the Western States 100, a prestigious race in California, and of the 2022 edition of the UTMB, as well as Chinese runner Fuzhao Xiang and French runner Blandine L’Hirondel.
The four-time race winner Kilian Jornet is absent, having sparked controversy earlier this year by criticizing the “values” of the UTMB and seemingly suggesting a boycott.
By chance or not, the Catalan is actually quite close to Chamonix: engaged in a superhuman crossing of the Alps aiming to summit as many 4,000-meter peaks as possible, he indicated on Friday on his Instagram account that he had just conquered the Aiguille Verte, the Aiguille du Jardin, and several other renowned peaks of the Mont-Blanc massif within 17 hours, a stone’s throw away from Chamonix.