2020 UTMB Events Top Runners

The UTMB race administration has released results of the lottery draw for the 2020 edition of all its events. High-level athletes are considered separately, as the race administration holds many spots for them. In the weeks before the draw, the race administration made public the top runners who have been given entrance into the 2020 races. A few top runners may have gained entrance through the lottery.

Here you can search the full entrants lists for all the UTMB races, six events spread over about a week. Also on this page are lists of the ‘favorites’ singled out by the race administration. In this article we preview the most competitive four events. The 172-kilometer UTMB is the main event of the week, and will see the most competitive field. The CCC is 99k long, TDS tips the scales at 146k, and the OCC is significantly shorter at 56k.

The entrants lists are certain to evolve as the year progresses, as elites are allowed late entrance, and, of course, not all who intend to start will be able to. We’ll update this article sporadically throughout the year.

Let’s take a look at how these four race fields are shaping up.

2020 UTMB Top Men

We divide the top UTMB men’s entrants into a couple categories, the ‘Headliner Men’ who have proven performances at long mountainous ultramarathons with deep international competition, and ‘More Top Men’ who have potential to finish in a top-20 position. We list each section in alphabetical order and additionally provide a recent and relevant result or two for each man to help identify him.

Headliner Men

Pau Capell (Spain) – 1st 2019 & 6th 2017 UTMB; 3rd 2018 & 6th 2015 CCC; 1st 2016 TDS
François D’haene (France) – 1st 2017, 2014, & 2012 UTMB
Javi Dominguez (Spain) – 9th 2019, 10th 2018, 5th 2016, & 3rd 2013 UTMB
Tim Freriks (USA) – 1st 2017 The North Face 50 Mile Championships; 1st 2017 Transvulcania
Jordi Gamito (Spain) – 3rd 2018, 10th 2017, & 12th 2015 UTMB; 5th 2016 & 2014 TDS
Robert Hajnal (Romania) – 2nd 2018 UTMB; 4th 2019 Madeira Island Ultra Trail
Scott Hawker (New Zealand) – 3rd 2019 UTMB; 5th 2019 Vibram Hong Kong 100k
Jing Liang (China) – 2nd 2019 Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji; 2nd 2019 Vibram Hong Kong 100k
Zach Miller (USA) – 9th 2017 & 6th 2016 UTMB; 1st 2015 CCC
Masatoshi Obara (Japan) – 8th 2019 UTMB; 4th 2019 Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji
Diego Pazos (Switzerland) – 5th 2018 TDS; 5th 2015 CCC; 11th 2014 UTMB; 2019 Madeira Island Ultra Trail
Ludovic Pommeret (France) – 1st 2016 UTMB; 3rd 2019 TDS; 3rd 2017 CCC
Min Qi (China) – 2nd 2018 CCC; 1st 2018 Vibram Hong Kong 100k
Hallvard Schjølberg (Norway) – 4th 2019 TDS; 4th 2018 UTMB
Marcin Świerc (Poland) – 1st 2018 TDS; 2nd 2017 CCC
Xavier Thévenard (France) – 2nd 2019, 1st 2018, 1st 2015, & 1st 2013 UTMB
Tim Tollefson (USA) – 3rd 2017 & 2016 UTMB; 1st 2019 Lavaredo Ultra Trail
Pablo Villa (Spain) – 1st 2019 TDS; 2nd 2019 Transgrancanaria
Jim Walmsley (USA) – 5th 2017 UTMB; 1st 2019 & 2018 Western States 100
Ho-Chung Wong (Hong Kong) – 7th 2019 UTMB; 1st 2019 The North Face Hong Kong 100k
Jia-Ju Zhao (China) – 11th 2019 CCC

More Top Men

Jon Aizpuru (Spain) – Top 3 last 4 editions of Ultratrail Ehunmilak
Manuel Anguita (Spain) – 8th 2019 & 6th 2018 Transvulcania
Pere Aurell (Spain) – 1st 2018 Transvulcania
Mathieu Blanchard (France, lives in Canada) – 10th 2019 CCC; 13th 2018 UTMB
Patrick Bringer (France) – 2nd 2019 Mont-Blanc 90k; 1st 2018 Les Templiers
Maxime Cazajous (France) – 4th 2019 & 3rd 2018 Diagonale des Fous
Franco Colle (Italy) – 1st 2019 DoloMyths Run Ultratrail; 1st 2018 Tor des Géants
Guo-Min Deng (China) – 6th 2019 Lavaredo Ultra Trail; 4th 2019 Vibram Hong Kong 100k
Cedric Fleureton (France) – 1st 2019 La SainteLyon; 3rd 2017 Trail World Championships
Dani Garcia (Spain) – 4th 2018 Reventon Trail; 5th 2017 Trail World Championships
Florian Grasel (Austria) – 9th 2018 UTMB; 1st 2019 Grossglockner Ultra-Trail
Nicolas Gregoire Curmer (France) – 5th 2019 TDS; 1st 2019 Diagonale des Fous
Damian Hall (U.K.) – 5th 2018 & 12th 2017 UTMB
Moisés Jimenez (Venezuela, lives in France) – 16th 2019 UTMB; 10th 2019 TDS
Harry Jones (U.K.) – 15th 2019 UTMB; 8th 2018 CCC
Janosch Kowalczyk (Germany) – 1st 2018 Ultra-Trail Cape Town; 10th 2018 & 11th 2017 Trail World Championships
Can-Hua Luo (China) – 11th 2019 UTMB
Jim Mann (U.K.) – 15th 2018 UTMB; 2nd 2019 Dragon’s Back Race
Jerome Mirassou (France) – 6th 2018 TDS
Loren Newman (USA) – 11th 2019 The North Face 50 Mile Championships; 2nd 2019 Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji
Giulio Ornati (Italy) – 11th 2019 TDS
Petter Restorp (France) – 11th 2018 UTMB
Ryan Sandes (South Africa) – 11th 2019 Western States 100; 5th 2019 Tarawera 100k
Seth Swanson (USA) – 4th 2015 UTMB; 1st 2019 Bighorn 100 Mile; 3rd 2018 Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji

2020 UTMB Top Women

We divide the top UTMB women’s entrants into a couple categories, the ‘Headliner Women’ who have proven performances at long mountainous ultramarathons with deep international competition, and ‘More Top Women’ who have the capacity to finish in a top-20 position. We list each section in alphabetical order and additionally provide a recent and relevant result or two for each woman to help identify her.

Headliner Women

Hillary Allen (USA, lives in France) – 2nd 2019 TDS; 3rd 2017 Transvulcania
Delphine Avenier (France) – 10th 2019 UTMB; 6th 2017 CCC; 1st 2016 TDS
Lucy Bartholomew (Australia) – 3rd 2018 Western States 100; 1st 2017 Ultra-Trail Cape Town
Camille Bruyas (France, lives on La Réunion) – 3rd 2019 CCC; 8th 2019 Transvulcania; 5th 2018 Diagonale des Fous
Francesca Canepa (Italy) – 1st 2018 UTMB; 1st 2019 Oman by UTMB 130k
Courtney Dauwalter (USA) – 1st 2019 UTMB; 1st 2019 Madeira Island Ultra Trail; 1st 2019 Tarawera 100k
Ragna Debats (Netherlands, lives in Spain) – 1st 2019 CCC; 1st 2019 Transvulcania; 1st 2019 Marathon des Sables
Élise Delannoy (France) – 7th 2019 UTMB; 9th 2019 Mont-Blanc 90k
Azara García (Spain) – 2nd 2019 OCC; 1st 2018 Les Templiers; 1st 2017 Transgrancanaria
Kaytlyn Gerbin (USA) – 6th 2019 Western States 100; 6th 2019 Madeira Island Ultra Trail; 2nd 2019 Transgrancanaria
Katrin Götz (Switzerland) – 3rd 2019 TDS; 1st 2019 Lavaredo Ultra Trail
Camille Herron (USA) – Set new 24-hour world record of 270k in 2019; 1st 2019 Tarawera 100 Mile
Stephanie Howe Violett (USA) – 4th 2019 CCC; 16th 2017 & 8th 2015 UTMB
Andrea Huser (Switzerland) – 2nd 2017 & 2016 UTMB; 1st 2015 TDS
Mimmi Kotka (Sweden) – 1st 2017 TDS; 1st 2016 CCC; 1st 2018 Mont-Blanc 90k
Maite Maiora (Spain) – 3rd 2019 UTMB; 2nd 2017 CCC
Ekaterina Mityaeva (Russia) – 4th 2019 UTMB; 4th 2019 Transvulcania
Kaori Niwa (Japan) – 16th 2018, 4th 2017, & 8th 2016 UTMB
Beth Pascall (U.K.) – 5th 2019 UTMB; 1st 2019 Ultra-Trail Cape Town; 4th 2019 Western States 100
Jocelyne Pauly (France) – 3rd 2018 UTMB; 2nd 2019 Tor des Géants; 1st 2018 Diagonale des Fous
Brittany Peterson (USA) – 2nd 2019 Western States 100; 4th 2018 Transvulcania
Katie Schide (USA, lives in France) – 6th 2019 UTMB; 2nd 2018 CCC
Sabrina Stanley (USA) – 1st 2019 Diagonale des Fous; 1st 2018 Hardrock 100
Audrey Tanguy (France) – 1st 2019 & 2018 TDS; 2nd 2019 Lavaredo Ultra Trail; 3rd 2019 Madeira Island Ultra Trail

More Top Women

Claire Bannwarth (France) – 9th 2018 Transvulcania
Elisabeth Borgersen (Sweden) – 6th 2019 & 7th 2018 TDS
Naomi Brand (South Africa) – 15th 2019 UTMB; 6th 2018 Madeira Island Ultra Trail
Luzia Bühler (Switzerland) – 11th 2019 Western States 100
Sabrina Cachard (France) – 18th 2019 UTMB
Emily Hawgood (Zimbabwe, lives in the USA) – 2nd 2019 & 1st 2018 Ultra-Trail Cape Town
Fernanda Maciel (Brazil, lives in Spain) – 11th 2018, 4th 2014, 7th 2012, & 4th 2009 UTMB
Elisabet Margeirsdottir (Iceland) – 12th 2019 UTMB
Maryline Nakache (France) – 5th 2019 CCC; 3rd 2019 Mont-Blanc 90k
Mariya Nikolova (Bulgaria) – 9th 2018 & 2017 UTMB
Fu-Zhao Xiang (China) – 11th 2019 & 20th 2018 UTMB; 1st 2019 Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji
Mei-Ling Xu (China) – 4th 2019 Vibram Hong Kong 100k
Guang-Mei Yang (China) – 3rd 2019 Vibram Hong Kong 100k

2020 CCC Top Men

[Editor’s Note: Starting with this CCC section, a narrower portion of top runners are listed and their exemplary results are truncated. This is a compromise with UTMB being the most competitive event and the practical necessity in keeping this article manageable in scope. Please feel free to share additional favorite entered for the CCC, TDS, and OCC in the comments!]

We list the top CCC men’s entrants in alphabetical order and additionally provide a recent and relevant result for each man to help identify him.

Dylan Bowman (USA) – 2nd 2018 TDS
Kris Brown (USA) – 13th 2019 & 10th 2018 Western States 100
Tòfol Castanyer (Spain) – 10th 2019 & 4th 2018 TDS
Cristofer Clemente (Spain, lives on the Canary Islands) – 2nd 2018 Trail World Championships
Sylvain Court (France) – 18th 2019 UTMB
Thibaut Garrivier (France) – 2nd 2019 CCC
Luis Alberto Hernando (Spain) – 1st 2019 CCC; 3-time Trail World Champion
Stephen Kersh (USA) – 7th 2019 Western States 100
Nicolas Martin (France) – 2nd 2018 & 2017 Les Templiers
Sam McCutcheon (New Zealand) – 7th 2019 CCC
Patrick Reagan (USA) – 8th 2019 Western States 100
Florian Reichert (Germany) – 9th 2019 Transvulcania
Jia-Sheng Shen (China) – 5th 2019 CCC
Andreu Simon (Spain) – 2nd 2019 OCC
Juan Somohano (Spain) – 6th 2019 CCC
Pablo Villalobos (Spain) – 4th 2018 OCC
Cole Watson (USA) – 12th 2018 Transvulcania
Zhen-Long Zhang (China) – 9th 2019 CCC

2020 CCC Top Women

Here are the top CCC women’s entrants. We list them in alphabetical order and additionally provide a recent and relevant result for each woman to help identify her.

Sarah Bard (USA) – 8th 2018 Comrades Marathon
Kristin Berglund (Sweden but lives in Austria) – 2nd 2019 UTMB
Eli Gordón (Spain) – 2nd 2019 & 1st 2018 OCC
Abby Hall (née Mitchell) – 8th 2019 CCC
Irene Kinnegim (Netherlands) – 17th 2018 UTMB
Kim Magnus (Canada) – 3rd 2019 Cascade Crest 100 Mile
Michaela Mertová (Czech Republic) – 8th 2018 High Trail Vanoise
Sarah Morwood (U.K.) – 6th 2018 Vibram Hong Kong 100k
Laetitia Pibis (France) – 9th 2019 TDS
Aroa Sio (Spain) – 15th 2019 CCC
Emily Schmitz (USA, lives in Columbia) – 5th 2019 OCC
Sarah Vieuille (France) – 2nd 2018 Les Templiers
YiOu Wang (USA) – 1st 2019 The North Face 50 Mile Championships

2020 TDS Top Men

Here are the top TDS men’s entrants. We list them in alphabetical order and additionally provide a recent and relevant result for each man to help identify him.

Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz (France) – 2nd 2018 Madeira Island Ultra Trail
Tom Evans (U.K.) – 1st 2018 CCC
Daniel Jung (Italy) – 7th 2018 Transvulcania
Andrea Macchi (Italy) – 8th 2019 Lavaredo Ultra Trail
Dmitry Mityaev (Russia) – 2nd 2019 & 3rd 2018 TDS
Hannes Namberger (Germany) – 12th 2019 CCC
Tom Owens (U.K.) – 4th 2019 UTMB
Nicolas Pianet (France) – 7th 2019 TDS
Andris Ronimoiss (Latvia) – 6th 2018 CCC
Yan-Qiao Yun (China) – 6th 2019 & 11th 2018 TDS

2020 TDS Top Women

We list the top women’s TDS entrants in alphabetical order and additionally provide a recent and relevant result for each woman to help identify her.

Kirsten Amundsgaard (Norway) – 4th 2019 Lavaredo Ultra Trail
Manon Bohard (France) – 4th 2019 Mont-Blanc 90k
Rachel Drake (USA) – 7th 2019 CCC
Meredith Edwards (USA) – 2nd 2019 Oman by UTMB 130k
Sophie Grant (U.K.) – 11th 2019 TDS
Anna Carlsson (Sweden) – 4th 2019 TDS
Sonia Locatelli (Italy) – 6th 2018 TDS
Corrine Malcolm (USA) – 4th 2018 TDS
Anne-Lise Rousset Seguret (France) – 4th 2018 CCC
Holly Rush (U.K.) – 7th 2017
Martina Valmassoi (Italy) – 2nd 2019 Mont-Blanc 90k
Ildikó Wermescher (Hungary) – 9th 2019 & 7th 2018 UTMB

2020 OCC Top Men

We list the top men’s OCC entrants in alphabetical order and additionally provide a recent and relevant result for each man to help identify him.

Miguel Caballero (Spain) – 4th 2019 Reventon Trail
Oriol Cardona (Spain) – 3rd 2019 Limone Extreme SkyMasters
Julien Chorier (France) – 2nd 2019 Oman by UTMB 130k
Mohamed El Morabity (Morocco) 2nd 2019, 2018, & 2017 Marathon des Sables
Rachid El Morabity (Morocco) – 7-time Marathon des Sables champion
Petter Engdahl (Sweden) – 3rd 2019 Transvulcania
Gus Gibbs (USA) – 5th 2019 Lake Sonoma 50 Mile
Drew Holmen (USA) – 2019 The North Face 50 Mile Championships
Eren-Jia Jia (China) – 1st 2019 OCC
Cody Lind (USA) – 1st 2019 Rut 50k
Antonio Martinez (Spain) – 2nd 2019 Reventon Trail
Adrien Michaud (France) – 4th 2018 Trail du Ventoux
Paddy O’Leary (Ireland, lives in the USA) – 9th 2019 Vibram Hong Kong 100k
Pere Rullan (Spain) – 2nd 2019 Cortina Trail
Ruy Ueda (Japan) – 1st 2019 Livigno Skymarathon
Stephan Wenk (Switzerland) – 13th 2019 Sierre-Zinal

2020 OCC Top Women

We list the top women’s OCC entrants in alphabetical order and additionally provide a recent and relevant result for each woman to help identify her.

Sheila Avilés (Spain) – 3rd 2019 Trail World Championships
Amanda Basham (USA) – 2nd 2019 CCC
Ruth Croft (New Zealand) – 1st 2019 & 2018 OCC
Eli Anne Dvergsdal (Norway) – 1st 2019 Zegama Marathon
Anna Mae Flynn (USA) – 1st 2019 Lake Sonoma 50 Mile
Yngvild Kaspersen (Norway) – 2nd 2019 Pikes Peak Marathon
Yang-Chun Lu (China) – 1st 2019 Vibram Hong Kong 100k
Taylor Nowlin (USA) – 2nd 2019 Speedgoat 50k
Jasmin Nunige (Switzerland) – 6th 2019 Vibram Hong Kong 100k
Monica Vives (Spain) – 3rd 2018 OCC
Miao Yao (China) – 1st 2018 CCC
Yuri Yoshizumi (Japan) – 3rd 2019 OCC

Top Runners Not Currently on Any 2020 UTMB Event Entrants List

Notably, some of the top finishers in the UTMB festival’s recent history are not currently on the entrants list of any 2020 races. We list these runners in alphabetical order.

Men

Ivan Camps (Spain) – 4th 2019 & 7th 2018 CCC
Jiri Cipa (Czach Republic) – 3rd 2019 CCC
Germain Grangier (France) – 9th 2019 UTMB; 5th 2018 CCC
Kilian Jornet (Spain, lives in Norway) – 2nd 2017 UTMB; 3-time UTMB champion

Women

Rory Bosio (USA) – 8th 2019 UTMB
Caroline Chaverot (France) – 1st 2016 UTMB
Uxue Fraile (Spain) – 2nd 2018, 3rd 2016, 2nd 2015 UTMB, & 5th 2014 UTMB
Kaci Lickteig (USA) – 10th 2018 UTMB; 3rd 2019 Western States 100
Nathalie Mauclair (France) – 1st 2015 UTMB
Núria Picas (Spain) – 1st 2017 UTMB; 2nd 2014 & 2013 UTMB

Call for Comments

Who do you think will be competing for men’s and women’s wins in the UTMB, CCC, TDS, and OCC events?
Ohmygosh that’s a lot of fast runners and a ton of amazing results! With so many names and races on so many lists, we surely missed a couple top runners or made a couple data mistakes. Let us know if you think someone should be included on these lists or if you see an error.