From our special correspondent in Chamonix,
We are often told about the loneliness of ultra-trail runners. But on certain spots of the 20th edition of the UTMB, around Chamonix (Haute-Savoie), the elite trail runners were treated to the opposite extreme. Hundreds of spectators thus went to Notre-Dame de la Gorge on Friday at nightfall, then to the Col de la Forclaz on Saturday morning, to encourage Jim Walmsley, Courtney Dauwalter and all the others in an absolutely insane atmosphere. Discover in the video below how these athletes were able to find resources, at the heart of an endless adventure of 170 km and 10,000 m of elevation gain around Mont-Blanc.
Smoke bombs, disguises, signs, big sound system, trumpets… and even chainsaw and Paquito in the middle of cow dung were thus invited to the party in front of runners who were sometimes dumbfounded by this Virage Pinot trail version. “There is more and more atmosphere, it’s nice, said after the race the Frenchman Germain Grangier, third in this Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in 20:10. There were times when it really hurt my eardrums. You almost had to wear earplugs, it was so crazy. It’s a race unlike any other…”