UTMB enjoys spectacular ‘rebirth’ with surprise winners and magnificent accomplishments after terrible tragedy
- The opening of the trail-running festival was marred by the first death of a competitor at the event
- Courtney Dauwalter and Francois D’Haene scored incredible wins in main event
Michel Poletti, UTMB co-founder, told the Post that, following the tragedy, the emotions on the start line was part-sombre reflection, part-celebration of the “rebirth” of UTMB.
“We know that running in the mountains is risky,” said Poletti, the experienced mountaineer and trail runner. “We all know names of runners who died in the mountains. This is the risk we all know exists, so we thought the best thing was for the event to go on.”
Just like in the previous years, the Mont Blanc showed little respect for runners’ rankings and reputations. Former champions Francesca Canepa and Xavier Thevenard headed home early, and with few exceptions, the names on the podium were not the ones that experts had predicted before the race.
Trail running is becoming more professional, but full-time athletes shared podiums with university students and runners with day jobs and families.
