It's UTMB time!
...but we need to talk
UTMB week is on, and as I am writing this, Toni Mccann, Stian Angermund, Katie Schide, Francesco Puppi and Daniela Oemus are already destroying OCC, the 50k distance at the Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc (UTMB) spectacle. Being the shortest distance of this self-proclaimed world series finals, it is also the fastest. I can’t even imagine how it must feel to hammer 55 kilometers, including 3500 meters of altitude gain along the way, in +/- 5 hours. Ultratrail running has become an insanely fast and professional sport, and there is no other stage in the world that makes this more visible than the UTMB finals in Chamonix.
The elephant in the room
There’s light and there’s dark about the UTMB juggernaut. You know this already. I elaborated on this in another Das Z Letter titled “Ultra Running isn’t cool anymore” a couple of weeks ago.
If elite athletes sign a petition against UTMB’s choice of (main) sponsors while, at the same time, collaborating with brands that verifiably commit greenwashing, will it make a difference? Who am I to judge.
Yes, the criticism is legit. Yet still, this text is not about bashing UTMB. After all, the runners’ experience remains unparalleled, despite the organizers’ questionable business decisions and unjust policies. Running around the Mont Blanc massif, one of the most beautiful mountain regions on earth, almost certainly turns out to be an extraordinary adventure for the runners who participate, year after year.
With that being said, I wish everyone I know, who races OCC, CCC, UTMB, PTL, TDS, MCC or ETC (this reads like the e-numbers on an ingredient list of a ready meal) exactly that: an extraordinary adventure. I can’t wait to hear your stories.
UTMB through my lenses
Let me drift off into storytelling-mode a bit. I experienced UTMB first-hand three times. In 2017, 2021 and 2022 and all three years could not have been more differently.
The Year 2017
In 2017, I was far from running any of the racing distances myself. I had just run my first ultramarathon at the Zugspitz Ultratrail in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and only had a small glimpse of what this sport is all about. Nevertheless, I wanted to travel to Chamonix to first-handedly experience the extravaganza everyone was talking about. Even more importantly, I went there to support two wonderful humans in their highly anticipated UTMB, respectively CCC, race. My close friend Sascha and my future wife Lisa.
This turned out to be some of the most intense days of the year, if not my entire life. Without admitting it to myself (or others), I had already desperately fallen in love with Lisa and being around her on this special night, and day, and night, was the only thing I could think of. She had been wanting to run UTMB for many years and in 2017 this dream finally came true. All the excitement multiplied given the fact, that we loved spending time together, and were about to become a couple only a few weeks later.
But despite the butterflies in my stomach, I had a job to do. I was the official support for my friend Sascha. Every runner is only allowed to be supported by one pre-registered person, and for Sascha, that was me. He had chosen CCC as his 100-km-Endgegner of the year, after finishing a couple of other 100k races, in which he was never satisfied with his performance. The CCC turned out to be his strongest ultramarathon, but at the same time the most joyful one. At least that’s what he told me at every aid station where I met him to fill up his flasks and hand him some vegan Landjägers.
Sascha finished his race Saturday morning. The first thing I did, after I drove him back to our place, was to head out to meet Lisa again. Her race had started 12 hours after Sascha’s, but she was already well underway. I wasn’t allowed to enter the actual aid stations, though. This right was reserved to our friend Manishe, who was Lisa’s official support. But I could try to sneak a peek at her from afar and run a few meters with her, after she had left the aid stations. This is how I spent the rest of the day, until Lisa crossed the finish line after 33 hours as 29th woman. I felt more than blessed to be around her in that very special life moment. I still do.
The Year 2021
It wasn’t until 4 years later, before I returned to UTMB. This time under other circumstances. I traveled to Chamonix to race myself. In fact, my first 100-km ultramarathon. The CCC had been on top of my list for a long time.
“If I ever run 100 kilometers, it will be CCC.”
“Ever” happened much faster than I expected, though. Due to the vast amount of Covid-19 cancellations in 2021, the organizers of UTMB made a handful of extra starts available on short notice. With only 10 weeks to prepare myself for this epic challenge, I franticly tried to get as many mountain-kilometers in my legs without getting injured or burning out. Well, it kind of worked out.
I already wrote and published a lot about my CCC race in 2021. That’s why I will only refer to the most thrilling articles here, instead of telling the whole story again. Read them. Seriously. Do it.
The Year 2022
I returned to UTMB again, the following year. Not as a runner. Not as a supporter. But as a mere spectator. I had just run the Western States 100 and was steeped in both, pure fulfillment and total void. Maybe not the best emotional state to travel to ground zero of ultrarunning, but I went there anyway.
Despite not feeling well during UTMB race week, I still learned a lot from a Top-10-athlete and the very back of the pack. Here’s what:
Future Years
As for right now, I don’t have plans to go to Chamonix next year. This is not owed to any resentments or aversions. I just don’t “feel” UTMB at the moment. Neither as a participant, nor as a spectator. However, the past has shown that this can change in a heartbeat.
Everything not Running
It’s that time of the year again. I and my Burger Club friends saddle up for our not-so-annual Burger Bike Trip. 3 days of biking (bike packing?) from Schondorf to Königssee. This is a good part of the wonderful Bodensee-Königssee cycling track. Basically, an east-west-crossing of Bavaria.
I am excited about a great outdoor adventure, good talks and a good amount of screen-free-time. As I continuously professionalize my writing, I’ve been automatically spending more and more hours in front of my macbook. Quite honestly, I like this. A lot. But, at the same time, my body gives me clear signals, that sitting on my desk for 14 hours straight (this includes working at my day-job and running Willpower) and then expecting it to “function” at the push of a button for a run, does not work this way.
So taking a bit of a break and spending time with my close friends is the healthy agenda for the weekend. I can’t wait!
