World Trail Majors launches with community spirit, aimed at countering ‘commoditisation’ of ultra running
- Hong Kong 100 directors want new series to put ‘original spirit of trail and ultra running’ back at the centre of the sport
- Launch comes in the wake of allegations UTMB forced a race in Canada into extinction
A new global running series aiming to put the “original spirit of trail and ultra running” back at the centre of the sport was launched on Monday.
The World Trail Majors (WTM) series will be made up of nine races, with events in Asia, Africa, Europe and the United States.
With frustration mounting at the actions of the UTMB organisation, which dominates trail running but has been accused of forcing some events out of existence, the new outfit was “a reaction to the direction of travel” in the sport.
“If we’re not careful trail running is going to turn into just another commoditised activity rather than a sport that is very much community based,” said Steve Brammar, co-director of the Hong Kong 100 and one of the brains behind the WTM.
And while officials were keen to point out that the WTM was not born with the “intention of confrontation or of solving all the problems of this fast-developing sport”, they acknowledged the actions of Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) had been a driver.
The idea for WTM was conceived in the wake of Covid-19, and Brammar messaged the organiser of Madeira Island Ultra-Trail to share his plans. It grew from there.
