UTMB 2023: who and how to watch Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc
Everything you need to know to follow the star-studded 20th edition of UTMB
Photo by:
Jordi Saragossa
Thousands of trail runners and fans are gathered in Chamonix, France, for one of the top races on the ultratrail calendar: the 20th Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc. UTMB is a 170-kilometre (106 miles) trail race with a total elevation gain of over 10,000m, and this year’s incredibly deep elite field is being touted as the most competitive in the race’s history. The action begins in the centre of Chamonix on Friday at noon ET.
UTMB is the pinnacle race of a week-long trail festival that includes eight other races: Canadian Christian Meier became the first Canadian to win one of the races leading up to UTMB on Wednesday, finishing the 150-km TDS mountain race in 19 hours, 36 minutes, 35 seconds.
Here’s a rundown of who (else) to follow and how to watch.
UTMB series final (a.k.a. the main event)
Women’s race
The big question is whether the undeniable GOAT, American Courtney Dauwalter, who holds the UTMB course record following her 22:30:54 finish in the race two years ago, will be able to best herself to claim the championships and course records at Western States, Hardrock and UTMB within a span of less than three months.
Dauwalter will be lining up against Hong Kong-based Eszter Csillag, who was fifth at UTMB in 2022 and third at Western States 100 in July. New Zealand’s Ruth Croft, who won the 2022 edition of Western States, will also be toeing the line, along with Canada’s Ailsa MacDonald, who was second at WSER in 2022 and recently won BC’s Elk Valley Ultra and Shushwap Ultra.
Other Canadians to watch out for include New Brunswick-based two-time Quebec Mega-Trail champ Kelsey Hogan and North Vancouver’s Anne-Marie Madden .Â
Men’s race
While four-time winner Kilian Jornet pulled out due to a sacrum injury, the field of runners lining up on Friday is intense. American Jim Walmsley has been living and training in France for two years preparing for the race, and will face off against dual Canadian-French citizien Mathieu Blanchard, who ran second to Jornet in 2022. “Ready for the crazy long fight,” Blanchard shared with Canadian Running.
British ultrarunner Tom Evans, who took third last year, will also be lining up, along with Swiss runner Jonas Russi (winner of the Lavaredo Ultra Trail by UTMB 2023), fellow Swiss runner Jean-Philippe Tschumi (who shared victory at the 100K Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB with the American Ben Dhiman) and Sweden’s Petter Engdahl.
Notable Canadians in the men’s race include Simon Widmann, who took seventh at the Canyons Endurance Run in April, and Ethan Peters, who was fourth at the same event.
Other races to follow
OCC: a 55-km course with 3,425 metres of elevation gain, beginning Thursday in Orsières, located in the south-western part of the canton of Valais and dubbed “the little Swiss sister.”
CCC.: 100 km and 6,156+ metres elevation gain. Canadian stars Priscilla Forgie, Jenny Quilty and Arden Young will be taking on Courmayeur–Champex–Chamonix, also starting Friday.
How to watch
Follow your favourite runners on the UTMB live-tracker here and tune in to a full live stream of the event on YouTube here. Canadian Running will be live-tweeting during the event.
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