Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc 2016


Wednesday 13th January 2016, 9am UK time and I’m sat at my desk furiously refreshing the screen to see if all the effort the previous year has paid off and I’ve got a place in the iconic Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc.

‘Fuck, shit I’m in’ I shout, half out of fear, half out of excitement and scaring my colleagues half to death.

So now it begins, the training and planning needed to enable me to complete the 166km and 9600m of elevation UTMB in the shadow of Europes highest peak on August 26th.

The UTMB is regarded as one of the toughest foot races in Europe and to get a place on the start line is on the bucket list of many ultra marathon runners around the world. It’s certainly going to be my toughest challenge to date.

UTMB start line

It’s a big event in Chamonix and the surrounding area and is a big festival of ultra running running over the course of a week and compromising of 5 races in total, UTMB, PTL, CCC, TDS & OCC taking place in the shadow of Mont Blanc.

  • UTMB – Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc – 170km distance & 10,000m elevation
  • PTL – Petit Trot de Lyon – 290km distance & 26500m elevation
  • TDS – Trail des Ducs de Savoie – 119km distance & 7250m elevation
  • CCC – Courmayeur Champex Chamonix – 100km distance & 6100m elevation
  • OCC – Orsieres Champex Chamonix – 55km distance & 3300m elevation

Fellow runners Martyn & Helen Price from my club Harrogate Harriers have secured places on TDS so we’re going to be well represented come August.

UTMB - Runners make their way down one of the descents

So now I have the task of preparing for this race and getting myself fit in order to complete to route.

I’m intending to document everything that I do and my training plan in order to help others in the future so check back regularly for updates and check my progress.


UTMB ® 2015 – Vue du ciel by UltraTrailMontBlanc


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