Annie Jean delivers world-class run at Marathon du Mont Blanc

At one of the toughest, and deepest, marathons in the world, Canadian Annie Jean finished on the podium.

Held in Chamonix, France, the site of the first-ever Winter Olympics, Marathon du Mont Blanc features a staggering 2,730m of vertical climb and 1,700m of descent. The race, which begins at more than 1,000m above sea level, is limited to 2,000 runners.

Annie Jean

Women’s podium

On Sunday, Jean finished the marathon in 4:51:17, 11 minutes back from winner Megan Kimmel of the United States. Ida Nilsson of Sweden finished second in 4:49:03. Kimmel is one of the top American mountain and trail runners and is coming off a victory, among other races, at the 2017 Yading 29K Skyrun in China.

Megan Kimmel

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVyp5T0l1xi/

Nilsson formerly competed in middle-distance track events including appearances at the European Championships and IAAF World Championships. The two-time Transvulcania Ultramarathon champion is amongst the world’s best in ski mountaineering.

The Marathon du Mont Blanc, which in addition to the 42K features 80K, 23K, 17K, ‘young marathon’ (15K), 10K and vertical K, begins at the centre of Chamonix and heads northeast to Montroc. The course crosses the Col des Montets and heads to the border of Switzerland before finishing in the Chamonix area opposite the Mont Blanc Massif 2,000m above sea level.

Highlights

From Salomon Running

From Marathon du Mont-Blanc

Jean, of Chelsea, Que., has been tearing up the European trails in recent weeks including a 22nd-place finish at the IAU Trail World Championships in Italy. Her performance at Mont Blanc is arguably her best to date among a list of accomplishments that includes a fourth-place finish at the 2016 The North Face Endurance Challenge 50-Mile Championship in San Francisco on Dec. 3. She finished second at the Snowshoe World Championships in early 2017.

UTMB, Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, takes place the first weekend of September.