For the entrance of the sector, the 2024 UTMB is already historical past. The enduring UTMB course, with its 176 kilometers (109.3 miles) and nearly 10,000 meters (32,500 toes) of elevation acquire, has topped new champions, as greater than 2,500 runners attempt to encircle the Mont Blanc massif from Chamonix, France, by means of Italy and Switzerland, earlier than ending again in Chamonix.
Within the girls’s race, American Katie Schide made certain there have been no related surprises on the prime of the rostrum. In a commanding, practically wire-to-wire victory, Schide crossed the end line in 22:09:31 to interrupt Courtney Dauwalter’s course report by 21 minutes, safe her second win at UTMB, and full the Western States 100-UTMB double within the span of simply over two months.
“Once I went out quick this 12 months, I wasn’t afraid like I used to be in 2022,” Schide mentioned after the race, referring to the primary 12 months she gained UTMB. “From two extra years of coaching, I had the boldness to run my splits.”
Katie Schide claiming her second UTMB win in three years, this time in course-record time. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Kiwi Ruth Croft and Canadian Marianne Hogan completed in second and third, respectively, for a robust podium.
On the end line in Chamonix, Vincent Bouillard put his palms on his head in disbelief and smiled towards the group: He had achieved it.
In one of many greatest — and most surprising — breakthroughs within the historical past of the storied race, Bouillard, an unsponsored Frenchman who works in analysis and growth for Hoka, gained the 2024 UTMB in 19:54:23, to grow to be the fifth runner to interrupt the legendary 20-hour mark and cement his title in race lore.
“Profitable UTMB was by no means anticipated,” mentioned Bouillard, a former observe and area athlete turned path runner. “I’ve been coming to this race since nearly the start for my work, however solely in my wildest desires would I win it.”
Vincent Bouillard after turning into the unlikely champion of the 2024 UTMB. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
These wildest desires turned actuality on a sizzling day in France, which noticed a number of of the pre-race favorites, together with American Jim Walmsley, the U.Ok.’s Tom Evans, and Frenchman Germain Grangier, drop out. Bouillard, together with second- and third-place finishers Baptiste Chassagne of France and Joaquín López of Ecuador, took benefit of the chance to finish a podium that maybe not many individuals predicted. However that, after all, is the fantastic thing about ultrarunning, particularly at a race as aggressive and deep as UTMB.
A particular because of HOKA for making our protection of UTMB attainable!
Learn on for full race particulars.
You may as well try extra outcomes from the week’s UTMB Mont Blanc pageant:
2024 UTMB Males’s Race
After lastly breaking by means of to grow to be the primary American man to win UTMB final 12 months — with a course report, no much less — Jim Walmsley (pre-race interview) entered this 12 months’s race as one of many clear favorites. He had additionally gained, for the fourth time, the Western States 100 in late June to arrange an try to grow to be the primary man since Kilian Jornet in 2011 to win the Western States 100-UTMB double.
In his pre-race interview, Walmsley projected calmness and perspective. “The playing cards that I’ve in my hand this 12 months are totally different,” he mentioned, “but in addition, I wouldn’t be lining up if I didn’t assume I had an opportunity to compete up entrance.”
And for practically 9 hours, that’s precisely what he did. Walmsley, carrying bib No. 2, began with the pack however took the lead by 35k because the climbing — and night time — set in. He ran on the entrance for the following a number of hours, stopping for 2 minutes on the Les Chapieux support station (51k), and got here into Lac Combal (70k) wanting sturdy and nonetheless within the lead, leaving in lower than 90 seconds.
The beginning of the 2024 UTMB. Photograph: iRunFar/Kirsten Kortebein
However between there and Courmayeur at 83k, he started to wrestle, dropping 9 locations to tenth and 13 minutes off the lead. As he entered the massive support station that serves because the close to midway level of the race, he appeared tough. Whereas the race leaders have been environment friendly with their stops, Walmsley sat to eat for a comparatively very long time and didn’t appear to be he wished to rise up. He would later formally drop, a troublesome conclusion to a promising race for the champion. Profitable the Western States 100-UTMB double nonetheless appears to be one of the vital difficult feats in males’s ultrarunning.
“Jim has been struggling to shake a knee harm since Western States,” learn a put up on his Instagram story, “however wished to offer himself the prospect to see what the day would give him.”
Walmsley was not the one of the pre-race favorites to drop out. The U.Ok.’s Tom Evans (pre-race interview) — who adopted up a third-place end on the 2022 UTMB by successful the Western States 100 final 12 months — had a really related race to Walmsley, operating close to the entrance for the primary half of the race and coming into Courmayeur in second. He was half of a giant chase pack that had handed Walmsley by 83k and spent lower than three minutes on the massive support station, leaving in third behind Frenchman Germain Grangier (pre-race interview) and eventual champion Vincent Bouillard, one other Frenchman.
Jim Walmsley and Tom Evans main the 2024 UTMB in Les Contamines at 31k. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
By Refuge Bertone at 88k, although, he started to look fatigued and although he remained within the prime 5 till 101k, by Grand Col Ferret at 106k he had dropped 23 locations to twenty eighth. He would additionally later drop — one other prime contender out of the race.
“Tom has sadly needed to withdraw. He’s okay and with household and pals,” learn a put up on his Instagram story. “Fueling turned a problem by means of the night time and you may’t run this race on empty.”
The carnage, sadly, didn’t cease there, both. Grangier appeared sturdy for greater than 115k, operating in second and charging up the hill at Grand Col Ferret at 106k and looking out calm at La Fouly 10 kilometers later, solely six minutes behind Bouillard. He stayed in second because the morning got here, however appeared fatigued by Trient at 146k, the place he would additionally drop.
Frenchmen Mathieu Blanchard, who famously battled Jornet on the 2022 UTMB for a second-place end, and Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz (pre-race interview), who gained each the Hardrock 100 and Diagonal des Fous in 2023, each dropped at 69k, whereas Spain’s Pau Capell, the 2019 UTMB winner, dropped at Courmayeur like Walmsley.
Germain Grangier runs into Champex-Lac throughout (128.5k) the 2024 UTMB. He would drop late within the race. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
None of that is to remove from the brilliance of Bouillard or the opposite prime finishers, who survived the historic carnage and warmth to return away with some performances of a lifetime.
It begins and ends, after all, with Bouillard, who was on few individuals’s radar when the race started. Final 12 months, Bouillard, who doesn’t also have a picture on his official UTMB web page, gained the Kodiak by UTMB 100 mile and Gorge Waterfall 100k, however few anticipated him to compete on the world’s best path race.
He did precisely that. Sporting bib No. 139, Bouillard ran within the lead pack in the beginning of the race, coming by means of Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme at 46k in ninth, and methodically working his method as much as the entrance, coming into Lac Combal at 70k in second. By Courmayeur, he had taken the lead and spent lower than three minutes refueling earlier than heading again into the early morning darkness.
From there, he wouldn’t relinquish the lead, operating the remainder of the race comparatively unchallenged as he continued to look sturdy and clean because the solar rose. Later within the morning, he would cross the end line to seal a robust and shocking win.
Males’s champion Vincent Bouillard descends into Vallorcine (158k), on his strategy to successful the 2024 UTMB. Photograph: iRunFar/Sarah Brady
Whereas Bouillard gained by practically half-hour, there was a real race behind him. France’s Baptiste Chassagne ran within the prime 20 for a lot of the first 60k and entered Courmayeur in eleventh. By 129k, he and fellow Frenchman Arthur Joyeux-Bouillon, who had taken the other strategy by operating at or close to the entrance from the beginning, have been inside seconds of one another in fourth and fifth place, respectively, and 34 minutes behind Bouillard. Chassagne continued to look and run sturdy, coming into Trient at 146k in second simply forward of Ecuador’s Joaquín López, the place he would stay till he crossed the end line in 20:22:45 for his most spectacular end of his six-year streak of a prime 10 at a UTMB Mont Blanc pageant race.
Baptiste Chassagne was fairly stoked to take second on the 2024 UTMB. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
López, in the meantime, had a really related race to Chassagne, operating within the prime 30 in the beginning of the race earlier than transferring into tenth place by the point he left Courmayeur. Over the ultimate half of the race, he moved up even additional, and was simply 4 minutes behind Chassagne at 161k. He couldn’t finally catch him, however he did maintain off Germany’s Hannes Namberger (pre-race interview) to complete third in 20:26:22.
Joaquin Lopez at Champex-Lac (128.5k), on his strategy to ending in third place on the 2024 UTMB. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Namberger, a two-time top-10 finisher at UTMB, had one other sturdy race to complete fourth in 20:31:54, wanting like he would possibly nab a spot within the prime three with a quick end.
The ageless Ludovic Pommeret (pre-race interview) of France, who simply over a month in the past set the course report on the Hardrock 100, had one other stellar efficiency, transferring up from forty seventh at 40k, all the best way to tenth by 100k, earlier than choosing off a number of runners in entrance of him to complete fifth in 20:57:48. It was his second straight fifth-place end.
Joyeux-Bouillon held on for sixth, whereas American Cody Lind bumped into seventh place. Spots eight by means of 10 — Spain’s Manuel Anguita together with Frenchmen Gautier Bonnecarrère and Yannick Noël — have been separated by solely 4 minutes, with Bonnecarrère and Noël showing to tie for ninth in 21:45:16.
Ludovic Pommeret completed the 2024 UTMB in fifth place, the identical place as final 12 months. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
2024 UTMB Males’s Outcomes
- Vincent Bouillard (France) – 19:54:23
- Baptiste Chassagne (France) – 20:22:45
- Joaquín López (Ecuador) – 20:26:22
- Hannes Namberger (Germany) – 20:31:54 (pre-race interview)
- Ludovic Pommeret (France) – 20:57:48 (pre-race interview)
- Arthur Joyeux-Bouillon (France) 21:12:12
- Cody Lind (U.S.) – 21:33:16
- Manuel Anguita (Spain) – 21:41:01
- Gautier Bonnecarrère (France) – 21:45:16
- Yannick Noël (France) – 21:45:18
- Josh Wade (U.Ok.) – 21:52:09
- Thibaut Baronian (France) – 22:07:48
- Aubin Ferrari (France) – 22:33:07
- Kamil Leśniak (Poland) – 22:47:34
- Jonathan Moncany (France) – 22:58:01
- Juuso Simpanen (Finland) – 23:11:39
- Guillaume Deneffe (Belgium) – 23:12:54
- Alexis Sevennec (France) – 23:18:51
- Marián Priadka (Slovakia) – 23:22:52
- Canyon Woodward (U.S.) – 23:26:04
Cody Lind took seventh on the 2024 UTMB, his debut at this occasion. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2024 UTMB Ladies’s Race
Simply two months in the past, American residing in France Katie Schide (pre-race interview) led the Western States 100 from wire-to-wire and practically broke the course report en path to a commanding win. On Saturday in France, Schide one way or the other improved on that efficiency: She once more gained in dominating trend, however this time additionally nabbed the course report to cap one of the vital spectacular doubles in ultrarunning historical past. (After all, final 12 months, Courtney Dauwalter, who didn’t race UTMB this 12 months, gained every race within the Western States 100-Hardrock 100-UTMB triple.)
In her pre-race interview, Schide, who lives and trains in France, admitted that her major focus this season was on the Western States 100 and that she took the runner’s insurance coverage for UTMB when she signed up in January in case she canceled.
After she dominated an impressively deep and aggressive area on Saturday, although, it was exhausting to consider UTMB was not the No. 1 race on her calendar this 12 months.
Katie Schide in La Floria simply 4k from the end and a brand new UTMB course report. Photograph: iRunFar/Amiria Macbeth
Schide went out quick and saved that assertive tempo for practically a complete day of operating. She was twenty first total on the first support station at 13k; New Zealand’s Ruth Croft (pre-race interview) and Canadian residing in France Marianne Hogan (pre-race interview), the eventual second- and third-place finishers have been, respectively, 118th and 72nd total there.
Schide didn’t take her foot off the gasoline and continued to run together with her attribute calm, power, and smile, coming into the Lac Combal support station at 70k in 7:34, wanting centered. By Courmayeur at 83k, she was 50 minutes beneath course-record tempo and practically 40 minutes forward of Hogan, and by La Fouly at 116k, she was practically an hour beneath report tempo.
The one query from there was if she would set the report. With Hogan shedding 10 minutes in 12 kilometers by 141k to fall to 40 minutes again, Schide’s win appeared near inevitable, particularly with the best way she was operating. Simply earlier than Vallorcine at 158k, Schide’s lead on the course report had lessened to 32 minutes and some kilometers later she was working exhausting and taking encouragement from followers. With 4 kilometers to go, she smiled because the crowds cheered her on, understanding that historical past was simply minutes away.
She reached Chamonix and the celebration started. Schide smiled to the group and gave a number of excessive fives earlier than crossing the end line greater than 20 minutes quicker than any lady had achieved earlier than, and the double was full.
Katie Schide after successful UTMB for the second time. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
If Schide was chasing historical past, Croft was chasing dozens of runners in entrance of her. Croft, who was compelled to withdraw earlier than the beginning of final 12 months’s race as a result of sickness, got here into UTMB as one of many favorites, having gained the Tarawera Ultramarathon and Transvulcania earlier this 12 months. She ran conservatively in the beginning, coming by means of 31k in sixth place subsequent to American Amanda Basham, 22 minutes off the lead, and later falling to ninth place nearly 38 minutes again simply over 10 kilometers later.
However by 88k, with about half of the race in entrance of her, Croft had moved as much as fifth, subsequent to Emily Hawgood of Zimbabwe, who lives within the U.S, and from there she saved transferring up. On the Grand Col Ferret at 106k, she was in fourth behind Schide, Hogan, and 2023 third-place finisher Blandine L’Hirondel of France, however Croft didn’t hold round: She broke right into a run as quickly as she began the descent.
Ruth Croft flying by means of Champex-Lac (128.5k). Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
By 129k, she had handed L’Hirondel and was in third place, wanting quick and decided. At Trient, 17 kilometers later and a few half-hour behind Hogan, Croft was the one lady to run by means of the whole part and seemed to be on the hunt.
By 158k, she had minimize Hogan’s result in 14 minutes and appeared the stronger of the 2, flying downhill and making up time. Between there and the climb as much as La Flégère, Croft lastly handed Hogan and left six minutes forward. With 4 kilometers to go, she was in second and flying to the end. She’d attain it in 22:48:37, simply over 22 minutes forward of Hogan, in her debut on the race.
Hogan, who completed second in her 2022 UTMB debut, had one other sturdy race, operating in second for a lot of the day with a smile on her face, earlier than fading late. She didn’t let falling to 3rd dampen her spirits, high-fiving followers and having fun with their cheers at La Floria 4 kilometers from the end after being handed by Croft. After crossing the road in 23:11:15, she was greeted by a big workforce on the end to have fun her second podium end in three years.
Marianne Hogan operating by means of Champex-Lac in second. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Behind the highest three, there have been extra sturdy performances. China’s Lin Chen completed fourth in 24:16:33, whereas L’Hirondel put all of it on the road for a fifth-place end. The ever-smiling Hawgood, a paragon of consistency who seemingly all the time finishes within the prime 10 of main path races, was about 22 minutes behind her in sixth with a time of 24:58:19, her third top-10 end at UTMB and quickest by greater than an hour-and-a-half.
Lin Chen in Champex-Lac on her strategy to taking fourth on the 2024 UTMB. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
That theme of pace was exemplified by the quartet of Sabrina Stanley of the U.S., Claudia Tremps of Spain, Martina Valmassoi of Italy, and Lucy Bartholomew of Australia, who completed in seventh by means of tenth, respectively, with a variety of solely 23 minutes. And maybe there are not any higher illustrations of the depth of the ladies’s area than Stanley, who handed Tremps late to enhance her time from final 12 months’s ninth-place end by roughly 90 minutes, and Bartholomew, who completed in tenth for the second 12 months in a row — however with a time 1 hour and 45 minutes quicker than final 12 months’s.
Sabrina Stanley ending seventh on the 2024 UTMB. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2024 Ladies’s Outcomes
- Katie Schide (U.S. residing in France) – 22:09:31 (new course report, previous course report: 22:30:54, Courtney Dauwalter, 2021) (pre-race interview)
- Ruth Croft (N.Z.) – 22:48:37 (pre-race interview)
- Marianne Hogan (Canada residing in France) – 23:11:15 (pre-race interview)
- Lin Chen (China) – 24:16:33
- Blandine L’Hirondel (France) – 24:35:54
- Emily Hawgood (Zimbabwe residing in U.S.) – 24:58:19
- Sabrina Stanley (U.S.) – 25:32:10
- Claudia Tremps (Spain) – 25:39:37
- Martina Valmassoi (Italy) – 25:42:02
- Lucy Bartholomew (Australia) – 25:55:31
- Alyssa Clark (U.S.) – 26:25:13
- Maite Maiora (Spain) – 26:50:35 (pre-race interview)
- Eszter Csillag (Hungary residing in Hong Kong) – 27:01:09 (pre-race interview)
- Mari Fenre (Norway) – 27:05:54
- Alexis Crellin (U.S.) – 27:12:25
- Maryline Nakache (France) – 27:16:18
- Johanna Antila (Finland) – 27:33:13
- Claire Bannwarth (France) – 27:47:58
- Noor Van Der Veen (The Netherlands) – 27:57:13
- Manon Bohard Cailler (France) – 28:07:06
Emily Hawgood operating by means of Courmayeur (83k) on her strategy to one other prime end. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Protection Thanks
Thanks a lot to the sector workforce of the next people who helped iRunFar cowl this race: Tim Peeeters; Kirsten Kortebein; Craig Murphy; Anthony and Anna Ellison; Fabrice and Tom Van De Cauter; Simon, Gina and Greta Atwood; Jeevan Lama; Andrew Block; Jakub Pediač; Yannick Guitard; Amiria MacBeth; Luca Yannick; Randy Gaylord; Monique Stuut; Ashley Saloga; Casey Wyatt; Olivia Rissland; Marissa Harris; and Ellie Greenwood.
