UTMB week - Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc has arrived!
Possibly the biggest sporting event in the Chamonix calendar sets off tonight, as around 2300 people attempt to run 166km round the base of Mont Blanc. The race sets off from the centre of Chamonix at 6.30pm, but get there sooner if you want to grab a good cheering spot as the turn-out is always huge!
Excitement has been building all week, as the starting line has been erected and hoardings have gone up around town. The streets have been getting steadily busier and various events have been going on, organised by race sponsors and sports clubs. You can see the changes going on in Place du Triangle de l'Amitié on our time lapse webcam videos.
This is one of the busiest weekends of the summer in Chamonix as not only are there thousands of people come to run the race, but plenty more come to cheer them on. The centre of Chamonix will be packed out tonight and streets along the route will be lined with people cheering and taking photos. Some people camp out along the route to offer support and boost the runners' morale throughout the night.
The Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc is world famous and renowned for being one of the hardest races in the running calendar. Not only is it 166km long but it covers around 9500m of positive altitude change and some of the trails are as high as 2500m.
The equivalent of almost 4 back-to-back marathons, it starts off in Chamonix before passing through Les Contamines and Les Chapieux, from where it circles round into Italy and the Aosta Valley. From there it continues over the mountains into Switzerland where the journey loops back round to Chamonix via Champex and Trient. Runners enter back into France via Vallorcine, Col des Montets and Flegere.
The finishing point is the same as the starting point and runners will be crossing the line in a steady stream right throughout the weekend. The winner is usually expected to make it back in little over 20 hours and the race officially closes after 46 hours, so people can still be staggering over the line at 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon. Watching the winner come in is very exciting and the mood gets more and more emotional as the weekend wears on and more runners come in. It's amazing how fresh some people can look after 166km, whereas it's hard to stop yourself from running forward to catch some of them!
The race has strict rules and regulations, which can incur penalties if not adhered to. Cutting corners can add an extra hour to your finishing time, as can dropping litter, not carrying the full kit or not helping another runner in difficulty. If you race number is not properly displayed or you engage in risky behaviour you can add 15 minutes to your time. Race favourite Killian Jornet was penalised 15 minutes when he won his first UTMB back in 2008 for receiving help from supporters outside the allowed zone on Flegere. Despite this he still managed to breeze in almost an hour before the second racer completed the course!
The sunny weather that we have been enjoying over the past few days seems to have replaced by a monsoon of Indian proportions, but the forecast suggests that this will ease off by this evening and there may be “scattered showers” throughout the night. Our fingers are crossed for all those competing that the rain won't add to the challenge.
UTMB running legends taking part this year include Killian Jornet (Spain) , Marco Olmo (Italy) , Dawa Sherpa (Nepal) and Scott Jurek (USA); watch this spacefor results which should be coming in from around 3-4pm on Saturday afternoon and keep an eye on our video reports page for footage from the event!
Click here to see our video footage of previous Mont Blanc Ultra Trails >>
Click here for more information from the UTMB website >>
