Martin Lange / Photo credits: JEFF PACHOUD / AFP
The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, the queen of endurance races, begins this Friday evening. They are 10,000 runners hoping to swallow the 171 kilometers and 10,000 meters of elevation across three countries, Switzerland, France and Italy. A family race that has become the world benchmark for trail running.
Head to the Alps, with a mythical race, the Dacia Ultra Trail Mont-Blanc! The first of eight races begins this Friday evening and all will be run during the week. A total of 10,000 participants from all over the world will take part. In 20 years, this family race has become the world benchmark for trail running.
At the origin of the race, a couple of computer scientists
Originally, there is Catherine Poletti and her husband. Computer scientists, they spend their holidays in the Mont-Blanc massif and take part in local races. But in 1999, after the fire in the Mont-Blanc tunnel, they were cancelled. Then an idea comes to them. “With a group of nine friends, we looked at each other and said ‘this has to last’. Crossing three countries around a mythical mountain is like a little trip around the world, it’s like an adventure,” she says.
Many amateurs on the starting line
And what an adventure! 171 kilometers through France, Switzerland and Italy. And above all 10,000 meters of elevation gain, the equivalent of four ascents of Mont-Blanc, swallowed up in less than 20 hours by the very best. But the vast majority of runners are amateurs, like Tom, 23, the youngest in the event who is participating for the first time. “It’s the most legendary race. Since the age of 14, I’ve been on the finish line of the different races and I say to myself ‘one day, it will be me'”, he confides at the microphone. from Europe 1.
To participate in the Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc, you need a lot of courage, but also a little bit of luck. This year, 25,000 people applied, but only 50% obtained a bib by drawing lots.