Vincent Bouillard and Katie Schide, with record included, win the UTMB 2024 Mont Blanc

The most prestigious and important trail running event on the planet, despite the controversy it always generates with its classification method and its commercial exploitation, already has brand new winners. The Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc 2024, which started last Friday, August 30, 2024 at 18:00 in the evening, has crowned Vincent Bouillard and Katie Schide as winners in Chamonix, the latter breaking the record of the event held by Courtney Dauwalter since 2021.

But before commenting on the spectacular races of these two athletes, it is worth remembering that the UTMB 2024, in short for those who do not know the race, consists of 171 kilometers of distance and a total of 9,963 meters of positive elevation gain. It is one of the most famous and desired 100-mile races on the planet, which goes around the Mont Blanc massif, passing through France, Italy and Switzerland. With a time limit of 46 and a half hours, it will test the abilities of the best mountain runners on the planet.

A time limit that Vincent Bouillard and Katie Schide certainly didn't need, who with a time of 19:54:23 and 22:09:31 became the first in the men's and women's categories, respectively, to run around the Mont Blanc massif.

Both with very meritorious races, they have taken to the finish line in Chamonix, the cradle of world mountaineering, to engrave their name in gold letters in the history of the UTMB. Vincent, a product designer for HOKA, who runs without an official sponsor, won against all odds, becoming the fifth man to run under 20 hours, in an edition that has left us with some big surprises in the form of withdrawals.

And it was a very open edition, which has also left runners like Jim Wamsley, Pau Capell, Mathieu Blanchard or Jordi Gamito out of the race as the kilometers went by . But beyond the withdrawals, in the men's category, we will talk about the runners who managed to sneak onto the podium.

On the one hand, and about 28 minutes behind the first classified, we saw Baptiste Chassagne cross the finish line. The Nike runner, with whom RUNNEA had the pleasure of being with during the week of UTMB, crossed the finish line in second place with a time of 20:22:45, which he achieved thanks to a race in which he went from strength to strength. After him, in third position we could see for the first time a Latin American runner on the podium. This was Joaquin Lopez, who with his time of 20:26:22 was just 3 minutes and a half behind the second place.

On the other hand, in the women's category, after Katie Schide's feat, who obtained a spectacular record coming in thirteenth position in the general classification and taking the new record of the race in the women's category, breaking Courtney Dauwalter's previous best of 22:30:55 in 2021, Ruth Croft and Marianne Hogan entered the race.

The adidas Terrex athlete managed to squeeze the most out of her body to reach the Chamonix finish line in 22:48:37. After the New Zealander, it was Marianne Hogan who completed the podium in third place with a time of 23:11:15. One of the favorites of this edition was Blandine L'Hirondel, who despite a great race was left out of the podium.

UTMB 2024 classification

Men's classification

1. Vincent BOUILLARD (FR) - 19:54:23
2. Baptiste CHASSAGNE (FR) - 20:22:45
3. Joaquin LOPEZ (ECU) - 20:26:22

Women's classification

1. Katie SCHIDE (USA) - 22:09:31 (Women's race record)
2. Ruth CROFT (NZ) - 22:48:37
3. Marianne HOGAN (CAN) - 23:11:15

Other UTMB 2024 results

But the UTMB is much more than just a race. Although we have focused on the main event, it is worth remembering that the event is made up of up to 8 races of different distances and gradients that were held between August 26 and September 1, 2024. All of them gathered the best athletes of the moment in a trail running party that left the following names:

The CCC: Courmayeur - Champex - Chamonix

About 101 kms for about 6,100 meters of positive vertical drop, starting from Courmayeur, in semi-autonomy and in 26:30 hours maximum. About 1,900 runners.

• Winners: Hayden HAWKS and Toni MCCANN

The TDS: Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie

About 145 kms for a 9.100 meters of positive difference in altitude, starting from Courmayeur, in semi-autonomy and in 44:00 hours maximum. About 1,600 runners.

• Winners: Thibault MARQUET and Marie DOHIN

The OCC: Orsières - Champex-Chamonix

About 56 kms for a 3500 meters of positive difference in altitude, starting from Orsières, in semi-autonomy and in 14:30 hours maximum. About 1200 runners.

• Winners: Eli HEMMING and Miao YAO

The MCC: Martigny Combe-Chamonix

About 40 km with about 2300 meters of positive vertical drop, starting from Martigny-Combe, in semi-autonomy and in 10 hours maximum and reserved for volunteers, members of the organization, residents of the Espace Mont-Blanc, partners and inhabitants of the Valais, Aosta Valley, Savoie and Haute-Savoie (a draw will be held in case of a number of applications greater than the number of places available). Approximately 1,000 runners.

• Winners: Kevin VERMEULEN and Iris PESSEY

The ETC: Experience Trail Courmayeur

About 15 km with about 1200 meters of positive vertical drop, starting from Courmayeur, in semi-autonomy and in 4:30 hours maximum and reserved for runners aged 23 years and older.

• Winners: Lukas EHRLE and Anaelle BONDOUX

The PTL: Petite Trotte à on

This race is significantly different from the others and has its own rules. It maintains a circuit of 300 kilometers with up to 25,000 meters of positive difference in altitude. Its purpose is to complete a given route without exceeding the established time of 151 hours. It cannot be considered as a competitive race and therefore does not give rise to an official classification.

• Winners: AlpsXperience