2024 UTMB Girls’s Preview – iRunFar

At 6 p.m. on August 30, greater than 2,500 runners will take to the streets of Chamonix, France, to start their 176-kilometer (109-mile) loop round Mont Blanc, in any other case referred to as the 2024 UTMB.

Most of the prime girls have already completed a significant 100-mile occasion this 12 months, with the highest 4 girls from the 2024 Western States 100 lining up for UTMB — Katie Schide, Fu-Zhao Xiang, Eszter Csillag, and Emily Hawgood. Becoming a member of these 4 are a cadre of girls with a historical past of working UTMB rapidly — Marianne Hogan, Blandine L’Hirondel, and Maite Maiora — all of whom have completed within the prime 5 of UTMB previously two years.

Becoming a member of these girls are an entire host of others who’ve confirmed their pace on mountainous programs however have by no means run UTMB earlier than, corresponding to Ruth Croft, and people, like Manon Bohard Cailler, who haven’t managed to place collectively a strong lap of Mont Blanc but, however have proven the potential to run close to the entrance of the sector.

And with defending champion and course-record holder Courtney Dauwalter and final 12 months’s second-place finisher Katharina Hartmuth not on the beginning line this 12 months, it looks like it’s anybody’s race to win. The depth of expertise on this 12 months’s girls’s discipline is certain to create thrilling racing.

For these not accustomed to the race, UTMB roughly follows the Tour du Mont Blanc route across the iconic European mountain, beginning in Chamonix, France, and visiting Italy and Switzerland earlier than returning to Chamonix. Over the course of the 176k race, runners cowl almost 10,000 meters (32,700 toes) of elevation acquire, see some unbelievable Alps surroundings, and expertise a number of the most enthusiastic assist within the ultrarunning world.

A particular because of HOKA for making our protection of UTMB attainable!

Tune in to our UTMB dwell race protection beginning at 6 p.m. CEST (10 a.m. MDT within the U.S.) on Friday, August 30, proper right here on iRunFar. Keep tuned!

Remember to learn our in-depth 2024 UTMB males’s preview for a have a look at the boys’s race.

2024 UTMB Girls’s Favorites for the Win

Katie Schide, an American residing in France and former UTMB champion, is a late entry to this 12 months’s race, and one may argue a favourite to win the occasion. After a dominant win on the 2024 Western States 100, the place she completed second in 2023, Schide now traces up for a very completely different fashion of racing from the net-downhill and sizzling and dusty trails of California that she excelled on only a few months in the past. Schide isn’t any stranger to UTMB, having completed it thrice, with a win in 2022 and a sixth-place end in 2019. Along with her win on the Western States 100, Schide additionally gained the Canyons 100k earlier in 2024. Her 2023 outcomes embody a win at Diagonale des Fous and a second-place end at OCC. The massive query will likely be whether or not she’s had sufficient time to recuperate from her huge Western States 100 effort on the finish of June.

Blandine L’Hirondel of France could also be thought-about the host nation’s favourite this 12 months after ending third at UTMB in 2023. She is the best positioned finisher from 2023 who’s returning this 12 months. In contrast to many different girls lining up, she’s targeted on 50k and shorter occasions this 12 months, together with the Marathon du Mont Blanc 20k and the European Off-Highway Championships 58k. She’s no stranger to the UTMB occasions, profitable the 2022 CCC and 2021 OCC, setting course data at each occasions. In 2023, she positioned fifth on the Zegama Marathon, and in 2022, she gained the Path World Championship Lengthy Path.

New Zealand’s Ruth Croft was set to race her first UTMB final 12 months however was pressured to withdraw earlier than the beginning as a consequence of sickness. Croft has been on a roll previously eight months, profitable the 2023 Extremely-Path Cape City 100k, 2024 Tarawera Ultramarathon 100k, and 2024 Transvulcania Ultramarathon. These outcomes point out that the Kiwi is on kind for her debut UTMB. She’s no stranger to racing within the space and gained OCC in each 2018 and 2019. She additionally gained the Western States 100 in 2022 and positioned second in 2021. Her outcomes additionally embody a win on the 2021 Les Templiers.

One ought to by no means rely out Marianne Hogan of Canada relating to UTMB. She completed second in 2022 in her debut on the occasion. Earlier this 12 months, she gained the Swiss Canyon Path 100k and positioned sixth at Transvulcania. As with many different girls on this discipline, she’s had a powerful displaying on the Western States 100 previously, with a third place in 2022. In 2023, she completed second on the Extremely-Path Cape City 100k.

Lining up for her fifth UTMB, China’s Fu-Zhao Xiang has loads of expertise and course data to depend on. She’s additionally a part of the ladies’s contingent aiming for the Western States 100-UTMB double, coming off of a sturdy second place on the California occasion. Xiang is the image of consistency and has come away with wins on the Mount Yun 50k and The North Face 100 Extremely Path Problem Moganshan 30k already this 12 months. As for her UTMB finishes, she positioned fourth, seventh, eleventh, and twentieth in 2023, 2022, 2019, and 2018, respectively. She was additionally fifth on the Tarawera 100k and gained the Doi Inthanon 50k and Translantau 130k in 2023. In 2020, she completed second at Transgrancanaria.

Eszter Csillag can also be seeking to double up with the Western States 100 and UTMB. The Hungarian runner, now residing in Hong Kong, is coming off a sturdy third place on the 2024 Western States 100 and is seeking to enhance on her fifth place on the 2022 UTMB. In 2023, she had a disappointing UTMB with a DNF and is unquestionably bringing classes from that have to the beginning line this 12 months. Csillag was additionally third on the 2023 Western States 100, and gained the Translantau the identical 12 months. She was fourth at 2021 CCC.

Spain’s Maite Maiora is lining up with the expertise that comes from a third-place end at UTMB in 2019 and a fifth-place end in 2023. Whereas 2021 noticed her DNF the race, she’s certain to make use of the data gained from two prior laps across the mountain for this go-around. To date in 2024, she’s completed third at each Val d’Aran 100k and Madeira Island Extremely-Path (MIUT), outcomes that comply with up a powerful 2023 season that included a win on the Path Alsace Grand Est 100 Mile and fourth locations at Val d’Aran 100k, Istria 100k, and Transgrancanaria 50k.

Identified for her ever-present smile, Emily Hawgood is again at UTMB after ending second at CCC in 2023. The Zimbabwean residing within the U.S. is recent off a fourth-place end on the Western States 100 earlier this 12 months and a win on the Chianti Extremely Path 74k. She’s completed UTMB twice earlier than, in sixth and tenth in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Her Western States 100 end this 12 months is on the tail of two fifth-place finishes on the occasion in 2022 and 2023, and a seventh in 2021.

Sabrina Stanley of the U.S. completed ninth within the 2023 UTMB after not beginning the 2022 version as a consequence of a COVID-19 an infection. The 2-time Hardrock 100 winner, each in 2021 and 2018, is clearly snug on mountainous 100-mile programs and is unquestionably seeking to enhance on final 12 months’s end result. Whereas she’s raced extra regionally in 2024, together with profitable the Silverton Alpine Marathon 50k, she has an entire host of excessive leads to Europe, together with a second place on the 2023 Extremely-Path Snowdonia 100 Mile, a fourth within the 2021 MIUT, and a win on the 2019 Diagonale des Fous.

 

Different High Girls on the 2024 UTMB

Manon Bohard Cailler has DNFed her previous two makes an attempt at UTMB in 2023 and 2022, however that doesn’t imply she must be counted out for the 2024 version. The Frenchwoman gained TDS in 2021 and positioned third on the Path World Championships Lengthy Path in 2023. That 12 months, she additionally gained MIUT by a 52-minute margin in a dominant efficiency. In June of 2024, she positioned second on the Swiss Canyon Path 100k.

Ragna Debats, who’s Dutch however lives in Spain, had a string of sturdy outcomes to shut out her 2023 season and begin 2024. She positioned second on the Javelina 100 Mile and Doi Inthanon 100k on the tail finish of 2023 earlier than putting second on the Desafio en las Nubes 50k and fourth on the Tenerife Bluetrail 72k in 2024. In prior years, she gained the 2022 Transgrancanaria and positioned third on the 2021 Western States 100. She additionally gained CCC in 2019. Nonetheless, she has lately been identified with IMO (intestinal methane overgrowth,) which she talks about on her social media. She ran and completed the 2024 Western States 100 post-diagnosis, however not competitively, and it stays to be seen if she is going to run UTMB. We want her all one of the best for a return to full well being.

Anne-Lise Rousset Séguret began out her 2024 season with a pair of second-place finishes at MIUT and Excessive Path Vanoise 20k. The Frenchwoman had a profitable 2023 with a second place on the Hardrock 100 and a win on the Wildstrubel 70k. In 2022, she positioned second at Diagonale des Fous and was fourth on the 2018 CCC.

Martina Valmassoi of Italy didn’t end UTMB in 2023, her first try at 100 miles, however she had a powerful win at TDS in 2022, which signifies her skill to do effectively on this race. Earlier in 2023, she positioned fourth on the Path World Championships Lengthy Path and gained Transvulcania. To start out off 2024, she gained MIUT.

Identified extra for her prowess on the shorter and extra technical races, Hillary Allen of the U.S. returns to UTMB to attempt to enhance upon her 14th-place end in 2022. In 2019, she positioned second at TDS and gained the Lavaredo Extremely Path 50k. Then, in 2021, she gained MIUT. Since then, she’s positioned second on the 2022 Speedgoat 50k and gained the 2022 Extremely-Path Cape City 100 Mile.

France’s Claire Bannwarth is understood for her skill to run extremely lengthy distances and is unquestionably seeking to enhance upon her sixteenth and twenty first placings at UTMB in 2023 and 2022, respectively. In the case of longer distances, there aren’t many higher than her, and she or he’s raced extra miles in 2024 than the opposite girls within the discipline, profitable the 400k Montreux Path Pageant, the 185k Path Menorca Camí de Cavalls, and the Lake Zurich 100k. She additionally positioned fourth at MIUT, second on the Tahoe 200 Mile, and eighth on the Hardrock 100. And people races had been after profitable the 420k Winter Backbone Race to begin out 2024.

Abby Corridor of the U.S. is lining up for her first UTMB after three finishes of CCC, together with putting third in each 2023 and 2022 and second in 2021. She was second on the 2022 Transgrancanaria and sixth on the 2023 MIUT.

Ekaterina Mityaeva is racing as a impartial athlete on this 12 months’s UTMB and is coming to the occasion after a win on the Mont Blanc 90k, an enchancment over her fourth-place end on the occasion in 2023. She additionally positioned third on the Extremely-Path Cape City 100k in 2023. Mityaeva isn’t any stranger to racing within the Mont Blanc space, with fourth-place finishes on the 2019 UTMB and 2021 TDS. She additionally positioned third on the 2021 MIUT.

After ending second on the 2023 TDS, France’s Fiona Porte returns to Chamonix for her debut UTMB. Her profitable 2023 season additionally included a win at Lavaredo and a win on the Maxi-Race Annecy, the place she positioned second in 2024. In 2022, she positioned third at Les Templiers.

Aroa Sío of Spain returns to UTMB after an eighth-place end in 2022 and a DNF in 2023. She began her 2023 season with a pair of third-place finishes on the Canyons 100k and Tarawera 100k. This 12 months, she’s began the season with fifth place at MIUT.

Earlier than putting sixth at UTMB in 2023, Katarzyna Solińska of Poland might have been referred to as a shorter-distance specialist. She’d positioned 18th in her debut UTMB in 2022, which was additionally her first 100-mile race, after putting second at Lavaredo earlier within the 12 months. She was additionally fifth at CCC in 2021. Earlier this 12 months, she gained the Path Verbier St Bernard, a repeat of her efficiency from 2023.

Lucy Bartholomew of Australia has expanded her focus from simply working in recent times, however that doesn’t imply that she will be able to’t put collectively a powerful efficiency round Mont Blanc. In 2023, she positioned tenth on the occasion along with profitable the Bandera 50k and Tarawera 100 Mile. That 12 months, she additionally positioned second on the Extremely-Path Australia, a end result that she repeated in 2024.

Whereas Claudia Tremps of Spain might have had a DNF on the 2023 UTMB, she’s had a very good begin to her 2024 season that would level towards the potential of a powerful efficiency this time round. Simply this 12 months, she’s positioned second at Transgrancanaria, Istria 42k, and Path Andorra 100k. In 2022, she positioned second at TDS, and the 12 months prior, in 2021, she was ninth at UTMB.

Claire Heslop of Canada completed eleventh on the 2023 UTMB, a big leap up within the placings from her 18th and nineteenth place finishes within the occasion in 2021 and 2022, respectively. This 12 months she’s displaying sturdy kind with a 3rd place on the Tenerife Bluetrail 110k and a tenth place on the Hardrock 100.

Japan’s Kimino Miyazaki  isn’t any stranger to the UTMB course, having positioned fifteenth in 2023 after a Twenty fourth-place end in 2022. She had a powerful 2023 season with a win on the Istria 100 Mile and a second place on the Tarawera 100 Mile. She was additionally eighth on the Doi Inthanon 100 Mile in 2022. Whereas her 2024 season hasn’t began off fairly as sturdy, she positioned second on the Restonica Path 110k in July, displaying that the shape is there.

Emily Vaudan of Switzerland completed thirteenth in UTMB in 2023 and twelfth in 2022 after a DNF at her debut on the occasion in 2021. Her consistency and dedication to the occasion level towards a possible top-10 end this time round. In 2022, she gained the Path Verbier St Bernard 110k and was third within the 2020 Swiss Peaks Path 315k, displaying that she’s snug with the 100-mile distance. She began off her 2024 season with a sixteenth at Transgrancanaria.

Marta Molist of Spain had breakout seasons in 2021 and 2022, profitable a number of high-profile occasions, together with the 2021 CCC, 2021 Tenerife Bluetrail 70k, 2022 Swiss Alps 50k, and 2022 Mozart 75k. Her 2023 season and begin of 2024 have been comparatively quiet, however a win on the 2023 Extremely Pirineu 100k exhibits she is again in good kind.

After ending sixth on the 2021 UTMB, Maryline Nakache of France got here again to Chamonix to win TDS in 2023. That very same 12 months, she positioned second at Lavaredo. To start out off 2024, she positioned a powerful third within the Mozart 100k and gained the Path Nivolet-Revard 58k and the Path Sainte-Victoire-Le Cézanne 40k.

This will likely be American Helen Mino Faukner’s first run at UTMB after two finishes at CCC, the place she positioned third in 2023 and thirteenth in 2022. She’s higher identified for her pace over shorter distances, with wins on the 2023 Speedgoat 50k and Kodiak Extremely Marathon 21k, and a win on the 2024 Desert Rats 50k.

Comparatively new to ultrarunning, Mari Klakegg Fenre of Norway had a powerful 2023 season, ending seventh at CCC and eighth on the Path World Championships Lengthy Path. Her fourth place at Val d’Aran 50k earlier this 12 months, in addition to her win on the Skogvokteren Extremely 90k, point out she’s on kind.

Núria Picas of Spain first raced UTMB in 2013 and positioned second. She was additionally second in 2014 and gained the race in 2017. She returns to the occasion after ending third at Val d’Aran 110k in 2023, in addition to profitable the Extremely Pirineu 100k in 2022.

Whereas Emma Stuart of Eire, who lives within the U.Okay., is comparatively new to ultrarunning and will likely be new to UTMB, she’s discovered loads of success within the 100-mile distance in her comparatively brief time with the game. In 2023, in what looks like solely her third 12 months of racing extremely distances, she gained the Tor des Géants, Extremely-Path Snowdonia 100 Mile, and the Arc of Attrition 100 Mile and positioned third at Lavaredo.

Nonetheless Extra Quick Girls on the 2024 UTMB

• Johanna Antila (Finland) – tenth 2022 CCC; 2nd 2023 Transgrancanaria 85k; 2nd 2022 Lavaredo 80k
• Amanda Basham (U.S.) – nineteenth 2023 UTMB; third 2023 Damaged Arrow Skyrace 46k; 1st 2023 Kodiak 100k
• Alessandra Boifava (Italy) – 1st 2024 Istria 100 Mile; fifth 2023 Lavaredo; seventh 2023 Transvulcania
• Alex Borsuk (U.S.) – 4th 2023 Canyons 100 Mile; eighth 2022 Gorge Waterfalls 100k; 1st 2020 Orcas Island 100 Mile
• Addie Bracy (U.S.) – 14th 2024 & fifth 2023 Canyons 100k; third 2023 & 1st 2022 Speedgoat 50k; 1st 2021 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile
• Naomi Model (South Africa) – sixth 2024 Extremely-Path Australia; 2nd 2023 Extremely-Path Cape City 100 Mile; sixth 2023 Lavaredo
• Lin Chen (China) – 1st 2023 Doi Inthanon 100 Mile; 1st 2023 Chongli 200k; 2nd 2023 Trans Jeju 100k
• Rong-Rong Chen (China) – twenty first 2023 UTMB; 1st 2024 Chongli 100 Mile; fifth 2023 Doi Inthanon 100 Mile; 2nd 2023 Amazean Jungle Thailand 100 Mile
• Alyssa Clark (U.S.) – 1st 2023 Val d’Aran 25k; 1st 2023 Canyons 100 Mile; 1st 2021 Ouray 100 Mile
• Alexis Crellin (U.S.) – twentieth 2023 UTMB; eighth 2024 & third 2019 Speedgoat 50k; 2nd 2023 Canyons 100 Mile
• Mélanie Delasoie (Switzerland) – fifteenth 2022 UTMB; seventh 2024 Eiger Extremely Path 54k; sixth 2024 MIUT
• Lindsey Dwyer (U.S.) – 1st 2024 Miwok 100k; 4th 2024 Canyons 100 Mile; 1st 2024 Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile; fifth 2023 Canyons 100 Mile
• Ida-Sophie Hegemann (Germany) – 2nd 2024 Istria 100 Mile; fifteenth 2023 Path World Championships Lengthy Path; third 2023 Istria 110k
• Keely Henninger (U.S.) – third 2024 Black Canyon 60k; 1st 2023 Black Canyon 100k; ninth 2021 Western States 100
• Stephanie Howe (U.S.) – 4th 2019 CCC; seventh 2024 Transgrancanaria 84k; sixth 2023 Val D’Aran 100k; sixth 2018 & third 2015 Western States 100
• Tara Fraga (U.S.) – ninth 2023 & eleventh 2022 CCC; 1st 2024 Gorge Waterfalls 50k; fifth 2023 Lake Sonoma 50 Mile
• Nancy Jiang (New Zealand) – eighth 2024 Lavaredo; 1st 2023 Tarawera 100k; eighth 2019 OCC
• Anna Li (China) – thirty fourth 2023 CCC; 1st 2024 Mount Yun 100k; third 2023 Extremely-Path Ninghai 100k
• Emilie Maroteaux (France) – third 2023 Doi Inthanon 100k; third 2023 Diagonale des Fous; 2nd 2023 Swiss Canyon Path 115k; fifth 2023 MIUT
• Inês Marques (Portugal) – 2nd 2024 Istria 110k; sixth 2021 Lavaredo 50k; third 2021 Transgrancanaria
• Oana Mihalcea (Romania) – third 2024 Desert Rats 100k; 4th 2023 Les Templiers; 2nd 2023 Path Verbier St Bernard 140k
• Fiona Pascall (U.Okay.) – 1st 2024 Mozart 100k; 1st 2023 Julian Alps Path Run 100 Mile; third 2023 Extremely-Path Snowdonia 55k; 1st 2023 Arc of Attrition 82k
• Manuela Soccol (Belgium) – 1st 2023 Extremely-Path Kosciuszko 100 Mile; 1st 2020 Tarawera 100k
• Eva Maria Sperger (Germany) – tenth 2022 UTMB; 2nd 2024 Eiger Extremely Path 100k; 1st 2024 Tenerife Bluetrail 110k
• Audrey Virgilio (Switzerland) – third 2024 & 1st 2023 Swiss Canyon Path 115k; 1st 2023 MIUT 85k
• Laura Van Vooren (Belgium) – 1st 2023 Good Côte d’Azur 100 Mile; third 2023 Mont-Blanc Marathon
• Katie Wright (U.Okay., lives in New Zealand) – 18th 2023 UTMB; fifth 2024 Tarawera 100k; 1st 2021, third 2023 & 2nd 2019 Tarawera 100 Mile
• Yuan-Yuan Wu (China) – 4th 2024 Val d’Aran 110k; third 2024 Hong Kong 100k; third 2023 Doi Inthanon 100 Mile; 1st 2022 Chongli 132k

Girls Beforehand Entered However No Longer Racing the 2024 UTMB

• Katharina Hartmuth (Germany) – 2nd 2023 UTMB; third 2024 Hardrock 100; 1st 2024 Path Andorra 100k; 2nd 2023 Path World Championships Lengthy Path; 1st 2023 Eiger Extremely Path
• Jazmine Lowther (Canada) – 4th 2022 CCC; 2nd 2022 Transgrancanaria; 1st 2024 Speedgoat 50k; 1st 2022 Canyons 100k
• Ida Nilsson (Sweden, lives in Norway) – third 2018 CCC; sixth 2024 & seventh 2023 Western States 100; 1st 2023 Canyons 100 Mile; 2nd 2022 Path World Championships Lengthy Path
• Leah Yingling (U.S.) – eighth 2023 UTMB; tenth 2024, ninth 2023, & sixth 2022 Western States 100

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• What predictions do you’ve gotten for this 12 months’s race?
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