A Course File for Schide and a Shock Win for Bouillard – iRunFar

For the entrance of the sphere, the 2024 UTMB is already historical past. The enduring UTMB course, with its 176 kilometers (109.3 miles) and nearly 10,000 meters (32,500 toes) of elevation acquire, has topped new champions, as greater than 2,500 runners attempt to encircle the Mont Blanc massif from Chamonix, France, via Italy and Switzerland, earlier than ending again in Chamonix.

Within the girls’s race, American Katie Schide made certain there have been no comparable surprises on the prime of the rostrum. In a commanding, almost wire-to-wire victory, Schide crossed the end line in 22:09:31 to interrupt Courtney Dauwalter’s course file by 21 minutes, safe her second win at UTMB, and full the Western States 100-UTMB double within the span of simply over two months.

“After I went out quick this yr, I wasn’t afraid like I used to be in 2022,” Schide mentioned after the race, referring to the primary yr she received UTMB. “From two extra years of coaching, I had the arrogance to run my splits.”

Kiwi Ruth Croft and Canadian Marianne Hogan completed in second and third, respectively, for a robust podium.

On the end line in Chamonix, Vincent Bouillard put his fingers on his head in disbelief and smiled towards the group: He had carried out it.

In one of many largest — and most sudden — breakthroughs within the historical past of the storied race, Bouillard, an unsponsored Frenchman who works in analysis and improvement for Hoka, received the 2024 UTMB in 19:54:23, to develop into the fifth runner to interrupt the legendary 20-hour mark and cement his title in race lore.

“Profitable UTMB was by no means anticipated,” mentioned Bouillard, a former observe and discipline athlete turned path runner. “I’ve been coming to this race since nearly the start for my work, however solely in my wildest desires would I win it.”

These wildest desires grew to become actuality on a scorching day in France, which noticed a number of of the pre-race favorites, together with American Jim Walmsley, the U.Okay.’s Tom Evans, and Frenchman Germain Grangier, drop out. Bouillard, together with second- and third-place finishers Baptiste Chassagne of France and Joaquín López of Ecuador, took benefit of the chance to finish a podium that maybe not many individuals predicted. However that, in fact, is the fantastic thing about ultrarunning, particularly at a race as aggressive and deep as UTMB.

A particular due to HOKA for making our protection of UTMB attainable!

Learn on for full race particulars.

You too can take a look at extra outcomes from the week’s UTMB Mont Blanc competition:

2024 UTMB Males’s Race

After lastly breaking via to develop into the primary American man to win UTMB final yr — with a course file, no much less — Jim Walmsley (pre-race interview) entered this yr’s race as one of many clear favorites. He had additionally received, for the fourth time, the Western States 100 in late June to arrange an try to develop into the primary man since Kilian Jornet in 2011 to win the Western States 100-UTMB double.

In his pre-race interview, Walmsley projected calmness and perspective. “The playing cards that I’ve in my hand this yr are totally different,” he mentioned, “but in addition, I wouldn’t be lining up if I didn’t assume I had an opportunity to compete up entrance.”

And for almost 9 hours, that’s precisely what he did. Walmsley, carrying bib No. 2, began with the pack however took the lead by 35k because the climbing — and evening — set in. He ran on the entrance for the subsequent a number of hours, stopping for 2 minutes on the Les Chapieux help station (51k), and got here into Lac Combal (70k) wanting sturdy and nonetheless within the lead, leaving in lower than 90 seconds.

However between there and Courmayeur at 83k, he started to battle, dropping 9 locations to tenth and 13 minutes off the lead. As he entered the big help station that serves because the close to midway level of the race, he appeared tough. Whereas the race leaders had been environment friendly with their stops, Walmsley sat to eat for a comparatively very long time and didn’t appear to be he wished to stand up. He would later formally drop, a tricky conclusion to a promising race for the champion. Profitable the Western States 100-UTMB double nonetheless appears to be some of the difficult feats in males’s ultrarunning.

“Jim has been struggling to shake a knee harm since Western States,” learn a publish on his Instagram story, “however wished to offer himself the prospect to see what the day would give him.”

Walmsley was not the one of the pre-race favorites to drop out. The U.Okay.’s Tom Evans (pre-race interview) — who adopted up a third-place end on the 2022 UTMB by profitable the Western States 100 final yr — had a really comparable race to Walmsley, working close to the entrance for the primary half of the race and getting into Courmayeur in second. He was half of a big chase pack that had handed Walmsley by 83k and spent lower than three minutes on the massive help station, leaving in third behind Frenchman Germain Grangier (pre-race interview) and eventual champion Vincent Bouillard, one other Frenchman.

By Refuge Bertone at 88k, although, he started to look fatigued and although he remained within the prime 5 till 101k, by Grand Col Ferret at 106k he had dropped 23 locations to twenty eighth. He would additionally later drop — one other prime contender out of the race.

“Tom has sadly needed to withdraw. He’s okay and with household and buddies,” learn a publish on his Instagram story. “Fueling grew to become a problem via the evening and you may’t run this race on empty.”

The carnage, sadly, didn’t cease there, both. Grangier appeared sturdy for greater than 115k, working in second and charging up the hill at Grand Col Ferret at 106k and looking out calm at La Fouly 10 kilometers later, solely six minutes behind Bouillard. He stayed in second because the morning got here, however appeared fatigued by Trient at 146k, the place he would additionally drop.

Frenchmen Mathieu Blanchard, who famously battled Jornet on the 2022 UTMB for a second-place end, and Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz (pre-race interview), who received each the Hardrock 100 and Diagonal des Fous in 2023, each dropped at 69k, whereas Spain’s Pau Capell, the 2019 UTMB winner, dropped at Courmayeur like Walmsley.

None of that is to remove from the brilliance of Bouillard or the opposite prime finishers, who survived the historic carnage and warmth to return away with some performances of a lifetime.

It begins and ends, in fact, with Bouillard, who was on few individuals’s radar when the race started. Final yr, Bouillard, who doesn’t also have a photograph on his official UTMB web page, received the Kodiak by UTMB 100 mile and Gorge Waterfall 100k, however few anticipated him to compete on the world’s best path race.

He did precisely that. Sporting bib No. 139, Bouillard ran within the lead pack initially of the race, coming via Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme at 46k in ninth, and methodically working his manner as much as the entrance, getting into Lac Combal at 70k in second. By Courmayeur, he had taken the lead and spent lower than three minutes refueling earlier than heading again into the early morning darkness.

From there, he wouldn’t relinquish the lead, working the remainder of the race comparatively unchallenged as he continued to look sturdy and easy because the solar rose. Later within the morning, he would cross the end line to seal a robust and shocking win.

Whereas Bouillard received by almost half-hour, there was a real race behind him. France’s Baptiste Chassagne ran within the prime 20 for a lot of the first 60k and entered Courmayeur in eleventh. By 129k, he and fellow Frenchman Arthur Joyeux-Bouillon, who had taken the alternative method by working at or close to the entrance from the beginning, had been inside seconds of one another in fourth and fifth place, respectively, and 34 minutes behind Bouillard. Chassagne continued to look and run sturdy, getting into Trient at 146k in second simply forward of Ecuador’s Joaquín López, the place he would stay till he crossed the end line in 20:22:45 for his most spectacular end of his six-year streak of a prime 10 at a UTMB Mont Blanc competition race.

López, in the meantime, had a really comparable race to Chassagne, working within the prime 30 initially of the race earlier than shifting into tenth place by the point he left Courmayeur. Over the ultimate half of the race, he moved up even additional, and was simply 4 minutes behind Chassagne at 161k. He couldn’t finally catch him, however he did maintain off Germany’s Hannes Namberger (pre-race interview) to complete third in 20:26:22.

Namberger, a two-time top-10 finisher at UTMB, had one other sturdy race to complete fourth in 20:31:54, wanting like he may nab a spot within the prime three with a quick end.

The ageless Ludovic Pommeret (pre-race interview) of France, who simply over a month in the past set the course file on the Hardrock 100, had one other stellar efficiency, shifting up from forty seventh at 40k, all the best way to tenth by 100k, earlier than choosing off a number of runners in entrance of him to complete fifth in 20:57:48. It was his second straight fifth-place end.

Joyeux-Bouillon held on for sixth, whereas American Cody Lind bumped into seventh place. Spots eight via 10 — Spain’s Manuel Anguita together with Frenchmen Gautier Bonnecarrère and Yannick Noël — had been separated by solely 4 minutes, with Bonnecarrère and Noël showing to tie for ninth in 21:45:16.

2024 UTMB Males’s Outcomes

1. Vincent Bouillard (France) – 19:54:23
2. Baptiste Chassagne (France) – 20:22:45
3. Joaquín López (Ecuador) – 20:26:22
4. Hannes Namberger (Germany) – 20:31:54 (pre-race interview)
5. Ludovic Pommeret (France) – 20:57:48 (pre-race interview)
6. Arthur Joyeux-Bouillon (France) 21:12:12
7. Cody Lind (U.S.) – 21:33:16
8. Manuel Anguita (Spain) – 21:41:01
9. Gautier Bonnecarrère (France) – 21:45:16
10. Yannick Noël (France) – 21:45:18
11. Josh Wade (U.Okay.) – 21:52:09
12. Thibaut Baronian (France) – 22:07:48
13. Aubin Ferrari (France) – 22:33:07
14. Kamil Leśniak (Poland) – 22:47:34
15. Jonathan Moncany (France) – 22:58:01
16. Juuso Simpanen (Finland) – 23:11:39
17. Guillaume Deneffe (Belgium) – 23:12:54
18. Alexis Sevennec (France) – 23:18:51
19. Marián Priadka (Slovakia) – 23:22:52
20. Canyon Woodward (U.S.) – 23:26:04

Full outcomes.

2024 UTMB Girls’s Race

Simply two months in the past, American dwelling in France Katie Schide (pre-race interview) led the Western States 100 from wire-to-wire and almost broke the course file en path to a commanding win. On Saturday in France, Schide in some way improved on that efficiency: She once more received in dominating style, however this time additionally nabbed the course file to cap some of the spectacular doubles in ultrarunning historical past. (After all, final yr, Courtney Dauwalter, who didn’t race UTMB this yr, received every race within the Western States 100-Hardrock 100-UTMB triple.)

In her pre-race interview, Schide, who lives and trains in France, admitted that her main focus this season was on the Western States 100 and that she took the runner’s insurance coverage for UTMB when she signed up in January in case she canceled.

After she dominated an impressively deep and aggressive discipline on Saturday, although, it was laborious to consider UTMB was not the No. 1 race on her calendar this yr.

Schide went out quick and saved that assertive tempo for almost a whole day of working. She was twenty first total on the first help station at 13k; New Zealand’s Ruth Croft (pre-race interview) and Canadian dwelling in France Marianne Hogan (pre-race interview), the eventual second- and third-place finishers had been, respectively, 118th and 72nd total there.

Schide didn’t take her foot off the gasoline and continued to run together with her attribute calm, power, and smile, getting into the Lac Combal help station at 70k in 7:34, wanting centered. By Courmayeur at 83k, she was 50 minutes underneath course-record tempo and almost 40 minutes forward of Hogan, and by La Fouly at 116k, she was almost an hour underneath file tempo.

The one query from there was if she would set the file. With Hogan dropping 10 minutes in 12 kilometers by 141k to fall to 40 minutes again, Schide’s win appeared near inevitable, particularly with the best way she was working. Simply earlier than Vallorcine at 158k, Schide’s lead on the course file had lessened to 32 minutes and some kilometers later she was working laborious and taking encouragement from followers. With 4 kilometers to go, she smiled because the crowds cheered her on, realizing that historical past was simply minutes away.

She reached Chamonix and the celebration started. Schide smiled to the group and gave a number of excessive fives earlier than crossing the end line greater than 20 minutes quicker than any lady had carried out earlier than, and the double was full.

If Schide was chasing historical past, Croft was chasing dozens of runners in entrance of her. Croft, who was pressured to withdraw earlier than the beginning of final yr’s race on account of sickness, got here into UTMB as one of many favorites, having received the Tarawera Ultramarathon and Transvulcania earlier this yr. She ran conservatively initially, coming via 31k in sixth place subsequent to American Amanda Basham, 22 minutes off the lead, and later falling to ninth place nearly 38 minutes again simply over 10 kilometers later.

However by 88k, with about half of the race in entrance of her, Croft had moved as much as fifth, subsequent to Emily Hawgood of Zimbabwe, who lives within the U.S, and from there she saved shifting up. On the Grand Col Ferret at 106k, she was in fourth behind Schide, Hogan, and 2023 third-place finisher Blandine L’Hirondel of France, however Croft didn’t cling round: She broke right into a run as quickly as she began the descent.

By 129k, she had handed L’Hirondel and was in third place, wanting quick and decided. At Trient, 17 kilometers later and a few half-hour behind Hogan, Croft was the one lady to run via the complete part and appeared to be on the hunt.

By 158k, she had minimize Hogan’s result in 14 minutes and appeared the stronger of the 2, flying downhill and making up time. Between there and the climb as much as La Flégère, Croft lastly handed Hogan and left six minutes forward. With 4 kilometers to go, she was in second and flying to the end. She’d attain it in 22:48:37, simply over 22 minutes forward of Hogan, in her debut on the race.

Hogan, who completed second in her 2022 UTMB debut, had one other sturdy race, working in second for a lot of the day with a smile on her face, earlier than fading late. She didn’t let falling to 3rd dampen her spirits, high-fiving followers and having fun with their cheers at La Floria 4 kilometers from the end after being handed by Croft. After crossing the road in 23:11:15, she was greeted by a big crew on the end to have fun her second podium end in three years.

Behind the highest three, there have been extra sturdy performances. China’s Lin Chen completed fourth in 24:16:33, whereas L’Hirondel put all of it on the road for a fifth-place end. The ever-smiling Hawgood, a paragon of consistency who seemingly all the time finishes within the prime 10 of main path races, was about 22 minutes behind her in sixth with a time of 24:58:19, her third top-10 end at UTMB and quickest by greater than an hour-and-a-half.

That theme of velocity was exemplified by the quartet of Sabrina Stanley of the U.S., Claudia Tremps of Spain, Martina Valmassoi of Italy, and Lucy Bartholomew of Australia, who completed in seventh via tenth, respectively, with an expansion of solely 23 minutes. And maybe there aren’t any higher illustrations of the depth of the ladies’s discipline than Stanley, who handed Tremps late to enhance her time from final yr’s ninth-place end by roughly 90 minutes, and Bartholomew, who completed in tenth for the second yr in a row — however with a time 1 hour and 45 minutes quicker than final yr’s.

2024 Girls’s Outcomes

1. Katie Schide (U.S. dwelling in France) – 22:09:31 (new course file, outdated course file: 22:30:54, Courtney Dauwalter, 2021) (pre-race interview)
2. Ruth Croft (N.Z.) – 22:48:37 (pre-race interview)
3. Marianne Hogan (Canada dwelling in France) – 23:11:15 (pre-race interview)
4. Lin Chen (China) – 24:16:33
5. Blandine L’Hirondel (France) – 24:35:54
6. Emily Hawgood (Zimbabwe dwelling in U.S.) – 24:58:19
7. Sabrina Stanley (U.S.) – 25:32:10
8. Claudia Tremps (Spain) – 25:39:37
9. Martina Valmassoi (Italy) – 25:42:02
10. Lucy Bartholomew (Australia) – 25:55:31
11. Alyssa Clark (U.S.) – 26:25:13
12. Maite Maiora (Spain) – 26:50:35 (pre-race interview)
13. Eszter Csillag (Hungary dwelling in Hong Kong) – 27:01:09 (pre-race interview)
14. Mari Fenre (Norway) – 27:05:54
15. Alexis Crellin (U.S.) – 27:12:25
16. Maryline Nakache (France) – 27:16:18
17. Johanna Antila (Finland) – 27:33:13
18. Claire Bannwarth (France) – 27:47:58
19. Noor Van Der Veen (The Netherlands) – 27:57:13
20. Manon Bohard Cailler (France) – 28:07:06

Full outcomes.

Protection Thanks

Thanks a lot to the sphere crew of the next people who helped iRunFar cowl this race: Tim Peeeters; Kirsten Kortebein; Craig Murphy; Anthony and Anna Ellison; Fabrice and Tom Van De Cauter; Simon, Gina and Greta Atwood; Jeevan Lama; Andrew Block; Jakub Pediač; Yannick Guitard; Amiria MacBeth; Luca Yannick; Randy Gaylord; Monique Stuut; Ashley Saloga; Casey Wyatt; Olivia Rissland; Marissa Harris; and Ellie Greenwood.