With the 2019 UTMB opening soon this August, join us to learn more about this international trail running event.
The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) is an annual mountain trail race in the Alps, spanning France, Italy, and Switzerland. The race covers about 166 kilometers around Mont Blanc, with a total elevation gain of around 9,400 meters, making it one of the toughest trail races in Europe.
Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc
Le cofondateur de l'UTMB, Michel Poletti, et son épouse, Catherine Poletti, ont eu l'idée de cet événement en 2002 avec René Bachelard, président du club local de course à pied CMBM.
Il y a aussi Jean-Claude Marmier, qui a joué un rôle très important dans l'histoire de l'UTMB. Il a également fondé le Pioletd'Or, qui est aujourd'hui l'une des récompenses les plus prestigieuses de l'alpinisme.
Under the impetus of the four pioneers, UTMB officially opened its registration at the end of 2012, and it was not expected that the first edition would be a great success, with 722 runners from more than a dozen countries signing up to compete, and a total of 67 of them finishing the race.
The Place duTriangle de l'amitie is the starting point of the UTMB and a symbol of friendship between France, Italy and Switzerland.
The Tour du Mont Blanc is the ultimate dream of many endurance runners. With the unpredictable climate of the Alps, the race is characterized by all kinds of bad weather: darkness, snow and ice, wind and rain, the meteorological conditions are ever-changing, and participants need to be absolutely strong and experienced, as well as equipped accordingly, in order to cope with the tough races.
UTMB's top runners are expected to finish the race in a little over 20 hours, but most runners will take 30-45 hours to run it.
The UTMB is also a "semi-self-sufficient" event. During the course of the race, participants are required to resupply on their own, so runners must first assess whether their equipment is qualified before starting the race.
UTMB's requires competitors to have the ability to support themselves for 2 hours alone in inclement weather, without any outside assistance or help, which is the lower limit for UTMB competitors to self-supply.
UTMB is big, well organized, has a great atmosphere, and has participants from all over the world. Everyone influences and motivates each other along the way.
Since its inception in 2003, UTMB has seen a record number of entries for each edition of the UTMB, from the original 700-person event to more than 7,000 runners from all over the world who have participated in 2017 to experience this hall-of-fame supercross race!
The UTMB track is well established and it is a classic route for centennial trekking in the Mont Blanc region. The route is virtually free of overgrowth and scrub, and due to the relatively high latitude and altitude, it is largely dominated by cold temperate woods, meadows and less vegetated gravel roads.
U T M B
After more than ten years of development, the UTMB has evolved from its original single program into five different categories for all levels:
UTMB (Tour du Mont Blanc Supercross)
171 kilometers, 10,300 meters of climbing, with a limit of 2,300 participants.
CCC (Courmayeur-Champery-Chamonix)
101km, 6100m of ascent, limit of 1900 participants
TDS (Savoy Super Traverse)
119km, 7200m of ascent, limited to 1,600 people
OCC (Aussières-Champery-Chamonix)
56km, 3,500m of climbing, limit 1,200 participants
PTL (Lyon Long March)
290 kilometers, 26,500 meters of ascent, limit of 300 people.
To participate in the UTMB Series, not only do you have to register, but more importantly, you have to fulfill the points requirement, which means that you need to have completed two or more International Off-Road Association (IORA)-certified off-road races before participating in the UTMB Series.
When registering for a domestic cross country event, it is also usually stated whether the event has ITRA certified points. When you participate in and complete the event, the UTMB official website will have your points, and you will be eligible to register only after your points meet the requirements.
Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc
Chinese power on the UTMB circuit
In 2012, the five-star red flag was flown on the streets of Chamonix for the first time.
In 2013, Xing Ruling and HD set the first UTMB full continental records for men and women respectively: 322nd overall and 431st overall.
By 2015, the number of Chinese participants had reached 45, a figure that soared to 83 in 2016.
In the eyes of every Chinese trail runner, the French town of Chamonix has a distinctive label: UTMB. With the snow-capped peaks of Mont Blanc as a backdrop, the enchanting scent of the Chamonix Valley is a lure for all trail runners, making it an annual pilgrimage to the holy land.
The 16th UTMB was held in Chamonix from August 27 to September 2, 2018, with registered runners from over one hundred countries, China being the non-European country with the largest number of participating runners, and it was also the most cohesive participation of elite trail runners from mainland China.
At the same time, UTMB TV, the official live broadcasting platform of the event, opened its Chinese channel for the first time, which is another manifestation of UTMB's emphasis on China's cross-country running market, so that cross-country running enthusiasts who can't go to France in person can learn about the event through UTMB TV.
贾俄仁加
Jao Renga and Yao Miao won the OCC® Men's and CCC® Women's categories respectively, while Qi Min took second place in the CCC® Men's category, marking China's rise in the world of cross-country running.
Qimin and Yao Miao.
We have reason to believe that the increasingly powerful Chinese army is bound to attract the attention of the world's cross-country runners.
U T M B
UTMB advocates respect: respect for the environment, respect for the event, respect for the sport; equality: each player may have different levels and conditions, but UTMB always insists on giving all players the same treatment and opportunities;
Persistence: no matter how good or bad you are, you can find the limit of your ability in UTMB and surpass it, turning UTMB into a magnificent adventure.
Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc
TMB Special Custom Off-Road Edition Route
After reading the introduction of UTMB, are you also eager to try it?
But what if you don't have enough experience in off-road running, the race is too tough, you don't have enough points for registration, and the winning rate is low?
We have specially customized the TMB Tour du Mont Blanc trail version for trail runners, which includes professional off-road training courses to bring you to feel the excitement of UTMB in advance and have a UTMB warm-up!
Visit the official website now
Visit our official website in order to register now and view product details, places are limited so book quickly.
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