*Official* 2024 UTMB Discussion Thread

Courtney and Katie are just leaps better than any runner in the 100 mile distance for women

He had already finished, then doubled back and jogged the last 200m or so high fiving fans and such. Then his friends carried him for the photo op or whatever

It was very hot, the course was 176km instead of 170km and he STILL managed sub 20h which is a time only a handful of guys have ever managed...Seems legit to me.

i don't know how they could really cover it. You can only see a tiny fraction of the course from any given point. iRunfar seems to get volunteers in all the aide stations, but that would be a lot of coordination to basically replicate what iRunfar is already doing. Sure LetsRun could cover the fans and crowds in Chamonix but that's not really the focus of this site.

Can we just talk about how much Kipchoge would destroy UTMB. He’d nap and eat a croissant and probably get in around 17:30. It would be the worst demolition job ever. Jim may cry.

He can't even finish a marathon with a few small hills and some heat.

Competition is steeper. They’re really pushing themselves to the limit in the marathon.

And yet he wasn't able to finish the "hilly" Paris Marathon.

I'm not ultra expert but I'm doing a little dive into this race for my WTW column. I don't get why a lot of this coverage is along the lines of "The top 5 guys dropped out so this unsponsored Hoka employee won." To me it should be, "This is the greatest upset in UTMB history and this guy ran the greatest race in UTMB history."

Everyone was saying on here how it was hot. Well by my calculations, he ran faster than anyone else in history. What explains that? Is it actually easier to run fast when it's hot as the ground is hard?

Here is my proposed coverage for the WTW:

One of the biggest trail/ultra races of the year was held last week - UTMB. The race starts and ends in France but also goes through Italy and Switzerland has nearly 10,000 meters of elevation gain and this year was 176 kilometers (109.3 miles) long.

One messagebaord poster perfectly described the race as follows: "4 letters. 3 countries crossed. 1 extraordinary adventure."

And to call the men's winner a huge surprise would be an understatement.
As David Monti of Race Results Weekly wrote, "The men's champion, Frenchman Vincent Bouillard, is a product engineer at HOKA and was only ranked 69th coming into the race. He won by a 24-minute margin."

"Today, as an engineer at HOKA, I've worked on projects related to the HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc," Bouillard said. "Just starting the race was a dream come true. I had a Plan C to finish in under 30 hours, a Plan B to finish in under 24 hours, and a Plan A to finish in the top 10. Winning in under 20 hours was just unimaginable!"

Well done!!

Shortly after Bouillard crossed the finish line, I received an email from LRC visitor Evan Bradford who also summed things up perfectly.

Robert,
If you TRULY believe that Letsrun is the place where dreams become reality then you need to interview Vincent Bouillard.

He is the unsponsored hometown boy with a full-time job who just ran the 3rd fastest time in UTMB history (only Jim Walmsley and Kilian Journét have ever run faster).

I know it’s an ultra, I know it’s European, but this is totally insane. You gotta have him on the podcast!!!

WHERE DREAMS BECOME REALITY!!!!

While a number of the men's pre-race favorites including Jim Walmsley, who was trying to become the first man since 2011 to win Western States and UTMB in the same year, did drop out, Brouillard clocked a quick 19:54.23 t0 win. His win was just 16:40 slower than Jim Walmsley's "course record" from last year even though this year's race ran 4.3 km longer than last year.

On a per km basis, Brouillard actually ran faster than anyone ever has when UTMB has been over 150km long. In fact, Brouillard is the first man to average under 11 minutes per mile for UTMB at its full distance.

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What am I missing or what do I have wrong?

What has Vincent Bouillard done before this? He said his plan C was to run 30 hours. He ran 19. That sounds like some guy who wants to break 2:30 in the marathon winning NYC.

He’s a Euro with a family and a job and no ego. So he doesn’t really race it seems. He won Kodiak easily earlier this year and does some random racing. Ludovic Pommeret (49!) who finished 5th and won Hardrock this year said something like “oh ya I tried to train a bit with Vincent but he’s too fast for me”. He’s friends with Walmsley and the other top guys and they all say he’s a beast to train with. Just doesn’t race.

You are not missing anything.

Bouillard did the right things on that day and all the favorites DNF'ed. Things happen in longer races. All Europeans have real jobs, so that is nothing special. That keeps them way more relaxed when racing because nothing is on the line.

ROJO, thanks for your interest. UTMB is a spectacular event and I’ve never met anyone who's done it or been involved in any way who doesn't feel the same.

"Well" and “Thursdays Runner” have already provided some great insights, so I'll only add a little more:

***the heat did not assist in faster times

***the dry (“harder”) ground probably did not either - in fact a little moisture/dampness often helps firm up dusty trails making them faster.

***course records around the world have been dropping like flies in the last couple years. General consensus includes improved in-race nutrition, improved technical gear (re: lighter/better vests, etc), the introduction of trail super shoes, and more competition in general.

***carnage (DNFs) have always played a big part in the sport, including the elites. The very fact they're elite means they're going for it - racing - and that's a very fine line to hold for 💯 miles. Even the most minor mistake, miscalculation, or no mistake at all just “sh!t happens” can result in demise - there's just no upside for an elite to stagger to the finish while potentially risking a career-threatening injury.

***I've watched the post-race interviews and most of the full replay coverage - and the winner Vincent was absolutely motoring until near the end when victory was assured. Even if the pre-race favorites hadn't dropped, I think Jim is the only one who could have outrun him straight up.