Cheering on GRP Trail Run Athletes at Ultra-Trail Mont-Blanc
by GRP Trail Run athlete, Elena Horton
photo by Jacob Banta
It’s UTMB Week! Three of our GRP Trail Run athletes - Canyon Woodward, Hannah Rowe, and Phil Royer - are taking in all the croissants, crowds, and pre-race nerves as they prepare for an exciting weekend of racing in Chamonix, France. If you’re thinking that UTMB just sounds like 4 random letters, you’re not alone. But, I’ll do my best to explain what UTMB is, why it’s such an important event, and how the whole process works for our GRP trail runners.
What is UTMB?
UTMB stands for Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, the trail runners’ version of the famous Trail du Mont Blanc, a 106 mile trekking route that circumnavigates Europe’s highest point and traverses through parts of France, Italy, and Switzerland along the way. With such an iconic course, this race attracted 700 runners in its inaugural running back in 2003, and has since grown to become what most consider the pinnacle trail running event of the year. Essentially, it’s the Tour de France of trail running, attracting huge crowds, sponsors, and energy that are hard to match. The event now gathers over 2500 runners and includes several other race distances in addition to the queen 106 mile loop. All of the races are run each year during the last week of August. While several other races still garner international attention in the trail running world, UTMB has become the de facto leader in the sport. As an organization, they maintain an international ranking system, award prize money, and host a series of high-caliber trail events around the world.
However, this level of professionalization has also come with valid controversy. In 2021, UTMB was bought by The Ironman Group, an organization that can often feel culturally at odds with the grassroots nature of North American trail running culture. As UTMB has continued to expand its events internationally, it’s taken over several local races, sometimes forcefully. They’ve also accepted sponsorships from companies like Dacia, a large European car manufacturer whose fossil fuel investments run against the green initiatives supported by most trail runners. UTMB has since dropped that partnership and has apologized for steamrolling local races, but many fear that the demands for monetary returns will continue to push UTMB down a path opposing the values so inherent to the sport – accessibility, inclusion, and conservation to name a few. Yet, UTMB remains the greatest vehicle for advancing the sport of trail running internationally, as success at their marquee events provides athletes with the greatest platform for landing the sponsorships necessary to make a living in the sport. Like most of the developments in our world, it’s a situation full of nuance.
How does an athlete get to race at UTMB?
UTMB week consists of 8 different races, 3 of which - a 50k distance (OCC), a 100k distance (CCC), and the original 106 mile loop (UTMB), are the primary targets for most ultra trail runners. There are three ways an athlete can qualify to race in one of these distance-specific UTMB World Series championships in Chamonix.
By racing a sanctioned event of a similar distance and, through their time and place, achieving a ranking that puts them in the top 2% of all trail runners at that distance.
By placing in the top 3 at a UTMB World Series race of a similar distance anywhere internationally, or by placing in the top 10 in one of the three UTMB World Series Majors races.
By entering the UTMB lottery, where lottery tickets are proportional to the number of “running stones” an athlete has. While collecting “running stones” may seem like a task from a fantasy novel, UTMB invented this concept as a way of rewarding athletes who complete a UTMB-owned event. The more UTMB events a runner finishes (and entry fees they pay), the greater their odds for selection into the championships in Chamonix.
For our GRP athletes, Canyon qualified for the UTMB race both through his high ranking and finishing 3rd at the 2023 UTMB World Series Major, Canyons 100M, in Auburn, CA. Phil qualified for the 50k race (OCC) through his high ranking and finishing 3rd at the 2023 UTMB Kodiak 50k in Mammoth Lakes, CA, and Hannah qualified for the 50k race (OCC) through her 2023 high international ranking.
How to follow along and cheer on our GRP athletes?
All races will be livestreamed and have live tracking. Hannah and Phil will start the OCC race on August 29th at 2:15am EDT. Then, Canyon will kick off his journey around Mont Blanc in the UTMB race at noon EDT on Friday, August 30th. Let’s cheer on our sprigs!