AS THE ULTRA-TRAIL DU MONT-BLANC CELEBRATES ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY, DUNCAN CRAIG UNRAVELS THE HISTORY OF AN ICONIC EVENT THAT LIVES DEEP IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF TRAIL RUNNERS THE WORLD OVER
The first time I heard those nowfabled initials, I was in the Moroccan Sahara: a husk of myself, morale teetering, lips as cracked as the wadis we’d spent the best part of a week running through. I was tackling the Marathon des Sables – the self-styled ‘toughest race in the world’. The sinewy Italian chap next to me in the medic’s tent was intent on small talk. Dispiriting small talk. ‘If you think this is tough,’ he said, watching the volunteer dab my bloodied feet, ‘wait until you try the UTMB.’
It was another two years before I got the chance (for those of us of such a mentality, his was an irresistible sales pitch). By then, the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) was in its seventh year and picking up pace inexorably, like a longdistance specialist cresting a final summit.
Every trail runner knew the daunting stats: 106 miles; 32,700ft of aggregate climb; three countries ticked off in a non-stop loop around western Europe’s highest mountain. Every trail runner had heard the tales of the 10-deep crowds at the start and finish in Chamonix, the carnival atmosphere, the unpredictable weather, the cowbells and hallucinations, the multinational camaraderie. And everyone wanted a taste.
That was 2009. Fourteen years on, as the UTMB celebrates its 20th anniversary, the race finds itself not just at the pinnacle of the burgeoning and interconnected sports of trail running and ultramarathoning – but as one of the world’s greatest sporting events in its own right. The exponential growth, year on year, has been dizzying: in innovation, in sponsorship, in marketing, in theatre, in global audience, in prestige. For elite athletes, a win in Chamonix can be worth a six-figure sum in spin-off benefits and endorsements. For the amateur, a finish is worth double that in enduring pride and satisfaction.
Over the years, seven offshoot races of varying lengths have been added, achieving its founders’ dream of establishing an end-of-summer festival of running (think: Glastonbury with added chafing). Nearly 500 accredited media cover the races; tens of thousands apply to run and millions tune in to L’Equipe’s live broadcast and the UTMB Live streaming platform. Postpandemic, UTMB has gone global, too, spawning a World Series with 36 events and 137 races on five continents. Harnessing the commercial and logistical might of new partner Ironman, that number could nearly double in the coming years.
Such runaway success is not to everyone’s liking, of course. Some say it has become a monopolistic force, freezing out smaller races. Others that it’s fettering this most free-spirit
