Women’s winner defends her 2019 title in a new course record time, finishing seventh overall
Francois D’Haene of France won a record fourth men’s title at the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc on Saturday, but the performance of the day belonged to America’s Courtney Dauwalter.
Not only did the 36-year-old win the UTMB women’s title for the second time, but she finished seventh overall – in a field packed with the biggest names in the sport.
Before the start, the conditions appeared to be a recipe for a historically fast race, with talk that the 20-hour barrier could be broken for the first time.
The leaders went off fast but most of those pushing the pace early on were soon paying for it.
At the Les Contamines check point 32 kilometres in, where runners take stock of their condition before running through the night, Dauwalter, the 2019 champion, and Sweden’s Mimmi Kotka were in the lead. The rest of pre-race favourites – Katie Schilde and Kelly Wolf of the USA, Beth Pascall of the UK, Ragna Debats and Maite Mayora of Spain were close behind.
In the men’s leading group, the favourites stuck together in a star-studded pack of 10. This year, the American Jim Walmsley, continuing his quest to become the first male American runner to win the UTMB, did not make an early break, probably having learned from his previous blow-ups.
The first favourites to tumble were France’s Audrey Tanguy, followed by three-time UTMB champion Xavier Thevenard who pulled out at Les Chapieux, only 50 kilometres into the race. Before the UTMB, rumours had suggested that Thevenard had problems with his form.
In the absence of Chinese runners, it was Europe vs USA among the leaders. In the men’s division Walmsley was going head to head with the French three-time UTMB champion D’Haene. In the women’s, it was Dauwalter against Kotka.
Read the full story at the South China Morning Post.