The UTMB World Series and Suunto have just announced a partnership, where Suunto will serve as the official GPS watch and technical partner to the global ultrarunning series.
As we all know, business partnerships between race organizations and brands have become common in the trail running scene. But not always do athletes participating in the events experience a tangible, positive effect of a such a partnership. It’s looking like this partnership could bring a nifty set of tools to UTMB World Series participants who wear Suunto watches, which is why we’re sharing the news with you.
Suunto says that anyone with a Suunto Vertical or Suunto Race watch can download specific and tailored maps for any of the 41 UTMB World Series events, including the UTMB Mont Blanc finals.
The maps are available in three different styles and come preloaded with landmarks, contour lines, water, paths, and terrain variations — as well as markers for all the official checkpoints on each race.
The technology will prove most useful for runners wishing to check out the route in advance on reconnaissance runs, and also to stay on track on race day and be informed about what’s ahead.
We’re waiting for more details from Suunto on what these maps will look like, what course-specific tools they will contain, and how they will function on race day. We’ll update this article as we learn more.
Suunto race-specific maps in use. Photo: Phoenix Monsorno
Suunto has been building navigation tools for adventurers of all kinds since 1936, and are now one of the biggest players in the sports watch and navigational devices market. The brand is renowned for their slick Scandinavian design, as well as superior performance, with recent models like the Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar boasting enhanced battery life and solar charging capabilities — see our Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar review.
The Suunto team of elite runners currently includes UTMB winners Courtney Dauwalter, François D’Haene, and Pau Capell.
The 2024 UTMB World Series kicks off this weekend with the Tarawera Ultramarathon by UTMB, where Suunto wearers will have the first opportunity to try out these new race-specific features.
Suunto athlete Courtney Dauwalter winning the 2023 UTMB. Photo: The Adventure Bakery
