For the eighth year running, iRunFar is covering UTMB! The UTMB is 170 kilometers (105.5 miles) long with 10,000 meters (32,800 feet) of climbing, and it encircles the famed Mont Blanc, starting and finishing in Chamonix, France, while traveling through Italy and Switzerland in the process.
You can find our full news stream of the event in this article as well as more resources to help you follow the race. You can also venture over to our Twitter feed and see more updates on our Facebook page.
The course records are held by Rory Bosio at 22:37:26, set at the 2013 race, and François D’haene at 20:11:44, set in 2014. Keep in mind that the race increased in length by a couple (difficult) kilometers since these two records were set, so someone will have to have the race of their life to get under these times. But, this is 21st century ultrarunning and someday in the not-too-distant future a runner will. And it could very well be this year.
A special thanks to Camelbak for making our coverage of UTMB possible!
Thanks also to GU Energy and Altra for their support of our UTMB coverage.
[If you head over to our Facebook page before the end of the race, we’ve got a contest for Camelbak and Altra gear.]
The race starts at 6 p.m. CEST (10 a.m. MDT in the U.S.) on Friday, September 1.
Here are some resources to help you follow the race:
- iRunFar’s men’s and women’s previews;
- Our pre-race interviews with Caroline Chaverot, François D’haene, Gediminas Grinius, Andrea Huser, Fernanda Maciel, David Laney, Núria Picas, Xavier Thévenard, Tim Tollefson, and Stephanie Violett;
- UltraTrail.TV’s live video feed, a video feed hosted by the race organization;
- The UTMB website, including technical information about the race (there are tabs for the course map, profile, and more);
- A search function for entrants, with tabs for race favorites; and
- The race administration’s live tracker for all entrants.
We’d suggest you catch up on your UTMB history while you’re following the coverage:
- Our post-race videos from 2016: Caroline Chaverot (champion), Ludovic Pommeret (champion), Andrea Huser (2nd), Gediminas Grinius (2nd), Uxue Fraile (3rd), and Tim Tollefson (3rd);
- Our post-race videos from 2015: Nathalie Mauclair (champion), Xavier Thévenard (champion), Uxue Fraile (2nd), Luis Alberto Hernando (2nd), Denise Zimmermann (3rd), and David Laney (3rd);
- Our post-race video interviews with earlier champions: Jez Bragg (2010), Lizzy Hawker (2010, 2011, and 2012), Kilian Jornet (2011), François D’Haene (2012 and 2014), Xavier Thévenard (2013), Rory Bosio (2013 and 2014);
- Our results articles from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016;
- An article about the UTMB culture; and
- A gorgeous excerpt about UTMB from the book Grand Trail by Frederic and Alexis Berg.
Support iRunFar
Please consider making a donation in support of our coverage of the UTMB. Thank you!
-Bryon Powell, Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar
