UTMB Route in 3 days - The Build Up

After finishing the TDS last year and giving the bike another go (which I quickly realised I hated), I started to wonder what to do next, UTMB or CCC would have been a dream scenario, but myself and Ali Bailey were both unsuccessful in the lottery.

It might sound naff, but I think about it all the time, you only get one shot at life (as far as I know), so I try to cram in as many experiences as possible. This was one of those moments. Ali and I had been talking about running the UTMB loop for years, but we’d never actually set a date. This year, there was nothing stopping us and no excuses. A few messages and we had a rough plan:

• Three days

• 108 miles

• 9,500m elevation gain

• The full UTMB loop

• Get some Summitz content

This wasn’t the sort of trip you taper for or slot neatly into a training plan. Honestly, I’ve only logged 380 miles of running so far this year, and most of my focus has been on the bike but supporting other big days, like back-to-back Bob Graham Round legs, has kept the endurance and mountain legs in decent shape.

We’d be self-supported between villages, so kit choice mattered. We both went with a RaidLight 24L pack big enough to carry everything for three days on the move: fresh Summitz kit for each day, waterproofs, nutrition, and all the little bits incase the shit hit the fan.

Physically, I wasn’t heading in without concerns. My right knee has carried a persistent ache for basically my entire endurance life, and my left calf has a knack for tightening up right when I’m feeling good. Still, it was booked, so I figured I’d just wing it and see what happened. There was also the issue that Ali is a far superior runner than myself 😂

Our schedule looked like this:

Friday: Arrive in Chamonix mid-afternoon, run 20 miles to Les Contamines

Saturday: 42 miles through Courmayeur to Anovouraz

Sunday: 46 miles to close the loop back to Chamonix

Logistics meant a 2am alarm in Edinburgh for a 7am flight, so we’d be hitting the trails roughly by 2pm on the Friday

It wasn’t the official UTMB, but it was the same mountains, the same route and the perfect excuse for an adventure.

Next up: Day 1 Chamonix to Les Contamines.