← All eventsUTMB — Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc
The world's premier mountain ultra: ~174km loop of the Mont-Blanc massif from Chamonix with ~10,000m of climbing, through France, Italy and Switzerland. One-to-two days on foot, two nights, 46h30 cutoff. A running event: pace, weekly vert and finish-time bands matter.
The benchmark of the sport. A single ~174km loop of the Mont-Blanc massif from Chamonix with ~10,000m of climbing, run across France, Italy and Switzerland.
Most of the field runs two full nights, from the fast Col de Voza start through Courmayeur at halfway to the long grind home. The average finisher is out there for around 39 hours.
You earn the start line before you race it. Entry is qualification plus lottery. The 46h30 cutoff looks generous, but it's the descending, not the clock, that decides who reaches the arch.
Is UTMB — Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc for you?
- Runners with an ultra resume already. Entry needs qualifying finishes plus a lottery place, so this is a step up from shorter mountain races, not a first ultra.
- Athletes who train the descents. Quads that survive long, technical downhills deep into the race decide finishes here, not flat leg speed.
- Patient power-hikers. Much of the climbing is hiked at a talkable effort, so it rewards discipline over anyone who races the cols early.
- Anyone at home in the dark and cold. Two nights on the move through high alpine passes suit runners who cope with sleep loss and shifting weather.
Training plan for UTMB — Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc
A training plan for UTMB — Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- Relentless climbing and descending with no long flat relief across the whole loop.
- Technical alpine descents late in the race, when your quads are already wrecked.
- Two nights on your feet, cold and sleep-deprived at altitude on the exposed cols.
- Hot valley sections early, then near-freezing wind chill up on the high passes.
- Long mountain runs building progressively from 3h to a single 7-10h day in the hills.
- Back-to-back weekends: a long Saturday, then running Sunday on pre-fatigued legs.
- Dedicated downhill repeats to condition the quads, plus power-hike repeats with poles.
- Night runs with your headtorch and full-kit, full-fuelling rehearsals in the specialise block.
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
- One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet
