Conquering Mont-Blanc: the path to UTMB - official documentary

every day oh my God [Music] I just wanted to start now [Music] what am I doing here why do I do this to myself [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this race just constantly keeps hitting you completely physically destroyed but mentally More Alive than you've ever felt in your life this race is so hard [Music] it's special for sure it's a it's a very big race the UTMB is the greatest racing week in trail running in the year and it culminates with three finals races with the Queen Race really being the complete circle of Mont Blanc the rooftop of Europe [Music] very busy feels like shamani fever all the runners are here you can feel it UTMB is in the air already [Music] my name is Tony McCann I am a professional Trail Runner and I am from Cape Town South Africa seven days to go seven day countdown one week I'm excited that it's here I'm nervous obviously it's exciting I'm ready for the atmosphere and the event and for everyone to come and can you imagine just the street lined with so many people Tony McCain who's recently relocated to Europe she's on the Terex team and this has really become a second family to her she's a rising talent in the trail running scene right now [Music] of running he takes up a lot of time I've chosen this profession where I get to spend a lot of time in the mountains which for me feels like a dream is probably my biggest supporter he's not the reason I moved to France but he's definitely a reason I want to stay I feel very lucky to have him in my life he's been with me through some challenging moments this year and has been very supportive through it all Cafe preparations for OCC this year have been less than ideal and then I transitioned into the running season and was feeling great and obviously had a good race at trans volcania and so it was all doing good but unfortunately I did come away from that race with an injury um quite painful the cycling also resulted in a broken collar bone so I ended up having to sit on an indoor trainer the specific training for OCC has definitely been lacking this year um so in some ways I feel quite underprepared Mercy Mercy [Music] thank you I'm Allie McLaughlin and I'm from Colorado in the U.S and I'm a trail runner for Hoka [Music] Ally McLaughlin is a terrific athlete incredibly talented Trail Runner she is an uphill specialist she's won the Pikes Peak she was the world championships this year representing the USA just a great personality [Music] is my main sport but I do a lot as hobbies and I wouldn't necessarily call them Sports I see Sports as like being competitive and so the activities I do I'd say more like are art or Fringe activities we call them sometimes the danger of it just is really attractive of like learning how to be super responsible for yourself and attentive to detail and so it's just like that accomplishment of getting over something that's scary and getting better at it and and it's pretty fun in the process [Music] it's not my typical preparation no however um I mean I have skydived for years and I thought it's always fun yeah I just want to do it all and um and especially Europe is such a great place for the Air Sports and so I'm like oh I'm going to Europe I'm taking all my toys and um [Music] the OCC stands for RCA champagne it's got 3 500 meters of climbing it's a tough race probably the toughest 55 kilometer race in the world I am extremely nervous um there's a lot of excitement in the air and I think we are all in the same boat feeling the the tension of the start line [Music] a lot of talk the last few days one specific for um comment came to mind that someone said Ali didn't go out that fast last year and that kind of stuck with me so I'm gonna do what I did last year if not faster and but make sure I feel good and waiting for the gun to go off [Applause] [Music] the start line at OCC is always wild it is so fast and the road is so narrow so everyone is trying to hassle and push for position and you don't want to get caught in the back because it's really hard claw your way back if you get caught behind people well the race starts with a with a massive climb up to Chante Locke and then there's a small flat section it climbs up the legendary climb of the bovine which is a rhythm-breaking climb and the course recently changed it Dives down into the small little village of Triumph and then it climbs out of Triumph climbs over the cold bomb with a spectacular view of the Mont Blanc and then it descends down into argentier and climbs across above the hillside the Mountainside and Dives back down at flesh air into chamonix a very very difficult race I can see Ali ahead of me and I can see her charging but there's a group of us and we're all kind of running together and sticking at the same pace and I remember thinking that this was comfortable and then I could hold this and feeling like my breathing is in check and listening to the breathing of the girls around me and and noticing a few who weren't breathing super comfortably thank you I get nervous sometimes when I'm following so off the start I kind of like to like to be in the lead so I'm gonna take a few steps here and now I'm I'm all with the guys and I actually can see the leaders which but it feels like a comfortable pace [Music] we are in a murin this is my third time here but first time as a base jumper the reason I heard about it six or seven years ago was it's a big base jumping spot and a lot of friends come here from the US to base jobs so I hear about it all the time and so to finally be back this year as a base jumper finally is really special [Music] it's a base jump off a paraglider so James is going to pick me up tandem it's about finesse so we'll see how we do and when I'm Beijing it's like the Matrix you're just I'm so focused I'm so in the moment um I've really put all the noise of different aspects of life kind of aside and yeah that's actually when when I'm in a race it's very similar or when I'm on a long run or a workout [Music] I do think it helps with nerves at the start of the race um you know over like a base jump is a lot scarier in my mind it takes a toll and um you know there's stuff called adrenal fatigue and like I mean I haven't like I'm not quite there but I think there's been times like oh wow I have been jumping a lot I think like I'm gonna definitely have to learn how to balance it all [Music] oh yeah [Music] yeah yeah [Applause] [Music] I'm coming up to Champaign lock I'm already like feeling a little burn and I just noticed that Jennifer and Tony are right here with me I remember thinking it was maybe a good time to catch her and try and hang on they actually just passed and oh gosh [Music] we are doing really well until we hear some pounding footsteps coming up behind us and meow um flies past us she was she is flying [Music] I see our team manager rabbit and he comes up to me and he starts running beside me and he tells me I'm confident not a cat yet not even again come on I think the Terex management have done something magical with the Terex team um we get along so well and they've definitely become an extension extended family for me you know within the team we've got such a range of experience and I definitely think I was one of the least experienced in the team which is why having someone like Peter you know all of these athletes have such amazing experience and have so many more years in the in this sport than I do so to get to spend a good amount of time with them you learn so much it's been so cool to follow her journey and like seeing her Progressive in the like the mountain terrain of course I'll give I've raised OCC before so I can give her some tips of course I think when you're training there's only so far you can go on your own and when you have the team support and their knowledge and their experience that you can draw on and help push you it's you know the possibilities are endless [Music] if I can keep with her I can pass her later on I know I can and it was that positive reinforcement in my head throughout the race you know I know I can I'm feeling good my legs are feeling good I'm not feeling tired these climbs are still feeling easy you're fueling well you can do this you're confident be brave yeah it was those voices running through my head that kept me going that day [Music] we're a mile into the downhill from cordoblum and I've been past I think maybe four times and this kind of sucks [Applause] so I'm a climb up to up to called the bomb I can see them making ground on her and I can see that I'm moving better than her I didn't push super hard I just kept going at the pace that I was going at knowing that if I didn't catch her on the climb I'd be able to pass her on The Descent and halfway up the climb just before we reached the Contour up to call the bomb I I passed her so I was like I'm good I've got this so I pushed a little and uh yeah I just I didn't see her again [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I was calm I knew no one was chasing me no one was right behind me so I could the trick to descending is to not be tense you've gotta let loose you've gotta like you know be calm and it's almost like dancing you can't be stiff when you dance the same with running downhill [Applause] it's not a feeling you get very often in in a career so I really tried to soak it up but at the same time I also just wanted to get to the Finish as quick as possible [Applause] it's a surreal experience I don't think I'm ever going to have anything come close to that unless I win here again [Music] [Applause] let's celebrate another finisher from a United States another finisher from hookah team Ali McLaughlin [Music] I have a lot of friends like cheering and I want to smile for them but I'm like also heartbroken so I don't have regrets particularly but I question am I trying to do too much um between just like traveling partying face jumping um paragliding but bottom line I'm not changing a thing [Applause] [Music] I can feel very lucky if I'm just waking up and smell the coffee it doesn't need to be like grandiose to to be something that matters huh Emily forsberg's one of the greatest trail running athletes of of all time she's truly a legend of the sport she's a leader of the sport and she is both a huge personality but at her core uh really simple and pure person after her two pregnancies come back to racing and come back incredibly strong and fierce as a competitor and here I planted some apple pear and cherry trees it's old Apple Tree old Apple Tree I have a grandiose plan for the garden when I stop [Music] the farm it's it's a lot of work and I'm I love being like a farmer if if I didn't get tired from the work outside I I would do it all the hours I'm not running but it's hard work that too so to live a life where it feels like first I'm in respect with nature and also like close to Nature and and to be able to give something to the world which which can be small or big or something in between I think it's like the anchor and that the family can bring you that can help but I'm not sure that like everything like it's it's still like I want to be very present with them and I want to have energy with them and sometimes I prioritize that instead of a hard very hard training because I know that if I do this I will not be able to do this with the girls so it's a priority but for me it feels like that's it's really worth it and I'm I'm very grateful to to be a mother and the family means a lot a lot to me [Music] when you see the times that she's putting on training it's uh yeah it's the best that uh she's being they're like she's a long race and long race is like everything can happen it's uh it's hard to know that but I think the preparation is there so then it's more on the execution I'm having a good day so uh now it's uh it's on that it will be exciting to to follow in the race foreign my name is Jonathan Alban I'm from the UK but I live here in Norway and I'm a trail Runner it is runnable there and then when you do this contouring Emily is I guess a friend uh she's married to Killian they both live just 20 minutes away so we've done a lot of training together we've been on some trips together I can learn from Emily and I'm guessing there's some stuff Emily can learn from me I race CCC last year she has raced previously but I think she stopped a little bit early so I don't know we're gonna make a little bit of a team and then we'll be both heading down to to Chamblee to see if we can both do the best race possible no I heard it's really runnable it's really really yeah the last part a little bit deeper yeah yeah is it important to share experience yeah it's always fun to talk with like yeah uh with other Runners their experience and yeah especially when you do the same course because everyone has a different experience but you're on the exact same trailer good luck and uh see you on the start yeah good luck [Music] so Jonathan Alvin is an incredibly talented Trail Runner he's an OCC Champion he was second place last year at CCC and just an incredibly meticulous and strategic uh Trail Runner he leaves nothing to Chance in his preparation and so we would expect him to have a terrific race this year at the CCC [Music] person I just like to be out in nature moving running that's where I'm happiest I'm a little bit shy I still just like to be myself just out there [Music] I wouldn't say I control everything I certainly don't control the weather a lot of my training isn't very specific but I really have to try and make some workouts extremely specific for CCC it's probably the longest race I'll do this year so I have to do some some longer activities and that's really important not just to build yourself up physically but also to test things like nutrition strategies because nutrition is such a massive part of ultra running so actually that's probably the thing that I'm weakest with so just being able to go out long enough so you can sort of like really get into that state where your stomach isn't very happy anymore and see what foods work and and see how you can overcome that discomfort is really important so this is how many hours I've used the machine since I got it and then this is the altitude take it down it's really hard to train for the exact climate I'm going to be racing in in a few weeks time also the altitude I live at sea level we're going to be racing up to maybe 2000 meters or so so that's a that's something that it's really hard to train for that's why I have the altitude tent to try and have a little bit of adaption so I can sleep in that I think I can win I think I should be able to win and I think I've always tried to tell myself why shouldn't I be able to win because if you think you can win it normally it's a lot easier to win [Music] the CCC is a beautiful race and it of course that acronym stands for uh Cormier champagne and the race essentially is a half circle of the UTMB course this really is a 100K race with 6 100 meters of climbing [Music] I'm definitely not a people person and usually on start lines I end up tucked away in the corner just sort of like trying to stay as relaxed as possible I'm very excited to be out for a whole day of running and that's what I want to keep in mind and I see many familiar faces friends and Runners and I I'm just feeling very happy to be there I'm not stressed because I'm my main objective was to to finish and have a good day out there so I I just wanted to embrace all the moments in the long day ahead [Music] [Music] it's really surreal when then they say go and then you start running and all of a sudden you have to concentrate on how many people are around you where you are where there's people in the way filming or the crowd and it's from the very first second really intense [Applause] [Music] the difficulty of the CCC is just the enormous amount of climbing in the race one is the grand call foray but it's a big climb it's the high point of the race it's the crossing between Italy and Switzerland the area of the race that's always a real difficulty is the bovine climb just after Sean paylock you've got a lot of kilometers in vertical in your legs and that's usually where there's a definitive move that's made in the race I wouldn't say I had a strategy for the start but I knew I couldn't start too hard and I think by the first top I was something like five minutes behind the lead and it back in 27th Place I think so that was a little bit far back than what I would have liked but there's no there's no panicking I mean you just have to run your race hope things will come back to you manage yourself and just see what happens I'm in the first climb and I'm feeling really good and under control and I'm I know I'm a strong climber so I wanted to be um close to the top there with the top woman but I I didn't think that I would be the first one [Music] then I had planned for the flat sections to take it a bit easier as it's not my strength is coming and we're running together it's very nice [Music] [Music] at the moment I don't have like a race that I want to win I just know that how I want to perform on it and I want to do it like well so that's how where I am at the moment did you see it will be special because your eye don't feel like an ultra Runner and a hundred kilometer feels horrible long like 10 years ago I could run a couple of hundred kilometers per summer like races during my two pregnancies um that were pretty close I kind of lost a lot of training and endurance after the pregnancies I haven't done an interest and now I feel terrified for the distance so I will um I will just do my best I I really I really don't know how it will go I really love it up here it's very wild and peaceful yeah let's go down I want to finish the race of course now of course I I would like to fight for a good position but it's hard to know where I'm at at that 12 13 hours race when I haven't done it for six years foreign [Music] ly catching people throughout the entire race so that's a real morale booster and it made me realize that there is still a possibility but later on in the race when I got told that I was nine to ten minutes behind the lead I have to say I did kind of think that that's a big a big ask to try and close that Gap and then manage to push forwards and win so to be honest at halfway I didn't think it was really going to be possible but there's no way I was going to give up so I was always going to push on and give it my all [Music] after four or five hours I started to feel a pain which I have had before in the foot and it's just increased increased increase so the hardest part was to try to let those thoughts go and just keep going [Music] hello everybody [Applause] [Music] [Applause] when I came into the Aid Station it was down to business I knew I wanted I wanted to get it quick and I wanted to get out of there and that's exactly how me and Henrietta ran the Aid Station I came in I got what I wanted and I left so I think it was like between 15 and 30 seconds at the Aid Station [Music] important [Music] uh he seemed like he was on a mission to be honest he wanted to get quickly in and out he didn't seem like he wanted to sit down although I told him to sit down so he was just like so yeah he's on a mission [Music] when I say I wasn't a competitive person I'm becoming one I think that's very much henrietta's personality rubbing off on me she was always the really serious one she wants to repair perfectly and I think being around her has made me push my limits and made me win more races and made me a better athlete [Applause] [Music] the main reason I did come to Norway was because of she uh she was the love of my life I mean as soon as we met his kind of things just clicked and we've been together a long time now and when she said I want to move back home to Norway do you want to come I immediately said yes because obviously I was going to follow her wherever she went in the world it's like an old school region Henrietta is very much my coaching in lots of different ways I've never actually had a coach I've just bumbled along finding my own way with Sport and that really worked for a certain amount of time I'm getting ready it was from that point that I had to start making my own philosophies for training and coaching myself and having him writer as a sounding board to give me tips or to have a look from the outside was invaluable and she is a big part as to why I have been successful as an athlete so I think um if there was ever two people that were meant for each other it was me and him Rita and it's not been uh not been dull one day since uh since we met and I wouldn't have changed anything [Applause] [Music] I'm coming into champagne and I see Maria from my team there and I'm I'm going to take a lot of water on me [Music] going out it's a pretty fast aid station [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I knew that Emily Harvard was behind me and so I thought that we could run a bit together but then it started with a bit of runnable section and then a bit downhill where the my foot started to hurt more and more so it's it was hard to like go faster and from there it was a little fight with the pain [Music] [Applause] just about to see the leader I'm running past him and I'm trying to run really strongly so I look strong and try and break his will a little bit and I kept that going um for quite quite some time after and I get that kick of you're now leading the race [Music] so I've come into the valleystone Aid Station I've got 500 milligrams of boiled coke which was the plan and I'm putting 500 milligrams of water into my race vest which jumps out of my race vest before I've I've left so I've left the Aid Station with 500 mil less water than I wanted to yeah it is really high risk I knew there was a river that I could fill up in so I'm running along up the climb I'm coming towards the river I'm thinking okay thank God I can finally fill up and get some get some water the river is bone dry great job and now it's really red alert this could end drastically it's just very hard to run like four hours with sharp pain and then know that you have at least three four hours to go like it's always really hard to take a decision to stop [Applause] breakfast running along the river with one kilometer left is when you start thinking okay I've done this now it really is a case so if you look over your shoulder along the river there you can see back 300 400 meters and then I think okay this is this is mine now I've won but then the the crowd is there and they really sort of expect something of you and it is really fun to then go and say thank you to them and the win isn't just for me it's for her as well so it was cool that she was at the Finish Line it was fun that I saw her along the course it's actually the first time that she's crewed me properly in a race like that because she wasn't racing herself so to share that with her is quite special foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] Matthew Blanchard is a real incredible emerging Ultra Runner he's really only been Ultra and in trail running uh and Racing for the past five years and he's a really solid athlete like if you look at him he's not a really uh thin athlete he's got strong muscular he's a fast runner at the Marathon distance but he also is an incredibly talented and tenacious runner for that hundred mile plus distance he was third in the UTMB in 2021 he was second last year in the UTMB just 15 minutes behind Killian jornette this could be his year at uh UTMB preparation distance foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] stuff [Music] okay [Applause] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I feel so excited that the race is finally starting and that I'm with my teammates and we're walking towards the start line we didn't forget our gear our shoes are tied and we are all ready to go [Music] my name is Courtney duelter I live in Colorado and I like running really really far well Courtney dewalter is an incredible athlete she's really a generational athlete she's a legend of the sport already and she's still in the prime of her racing career and she's obviously the greatest of all time when I went into this summer my goal was to do two 100 mile races three weeks apart Western States 100 and then the Hard Rock 100 and I would have been very happy to finish both of those and call it a season but the opportunity was there to add one more to the summer and we decided that we had to try and see what was possible yeah we will see what one more 100 mile race feels like and my biggest goal is to finish it yes it is so loud at the start line and people are cheering and going crazy and it's filling the air with electricity which I feel it on my insides building as just excitement and ready to go like let's do this thing is [Music] [Applause] [Applause] the UTMB is the ultimate finale race of the UTMB week UTMB stands for Ultra Trail Dumont Blanc the race has 170 kilometers of racing over 10 000 meters of elevation gain and there are about 10 big climbs of a thousand meters brings you back to chamonix completely physically destroyed but mentally More Alive than you've ever felt in your life I love this race gives you these huge Townsville the big party of people celebrating trail running and cheering you on and then you go out into the trails and the mountains and you are just by yourself listening to your breathing and your feet and it becomes very simple in your headlamp overnight thank you [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] all right Alex is an assistance very much [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] thank you [Music] as I'm climbing Grand Cole for a my legs are feeling really tired already which is makes me a little nervous because there's still a long race to go [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Music] support [Applause] [Music] I am dead this race is so hard this summer has been so hard and I am feeling completely empty of any power left in my leg [Applause] thank you [Applause] [Music] when I arrived in the fourth class it is the biggest and craziest crowd that I've ever seen at a running event this is insane I can't believe all of these people are out here cheering I'm so thankful for all those people giving up their day to be out supporting all the runners but thus like signs and everything that was for me specifically is it just it filled my heart and filled my it gave me it's giving me a boost to keep going [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] events um [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I have never given so many high fives in my life [Applause] [Music] [Applause] as I'm crossing the line I have an overwhelming feeling of disbelief I I cannot believe that I made it here and the summer is done and we completed our challenge and immediately I am looking for Kevin and my family and uh just wanting to hug everybody [Applause] what's next for you next for me is to fully relax and recharge and start scheming on what a new idea could be for 2024. I am always looking for a new challenge yesterday I I told the team that okay I'm retiring now today I feel much better than yesterday maybe to step up to the full course would be the next challenge is [Music] [Music] thank you [Music]