The growth of the The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® in figures

Race feature: A look at the impact the growth of The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® has on logistics and the local economy

In just a few years The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® has become one of the most popular races in the world. It is also a pioneer in the organisation of mountain running for the masses. It's growth and a development is overlooked by a professional organisation which contributes to the economic development of the valleys, 19 communities, numerous mountain huts and of course of a constantly evolving discipline.

Eleven years after the first event: 4 races during an exceptional week, record participation, overseas visitors (74 countries represented), 50,000 people with Chamonix as their base camp... Below is an interesting insight into logistics and economic development with a few of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® figures:

Logistics

• 2,000 volunteers at many different types of post, amongst which: VIP welcome, ambassadors of the environment (20), animation, way-marking, cameraman and assistant, chief of post (80), race stewards (27), IT control, refreshment coordination, un-way-marking, dismantling, PTLä management team, race sweepers, nurses (70),  physios (30), doctors (30), set-up, race control (30), podologists (15), information point, refreshments, race-bib distribution (50), gift distribution, meals (15), rest  area (20), electronic chip collection, first aid/rescue workers (150), police (30), transport (32).
  
  Their profiles: 11.5% are students, 25 % managers or company directors, 13.6% are retired.
   
• 15 000 people transported (runners, volunteers, accompanying persons, press, organisation)
  150 buses
  150 drivers
  500 bus departures
  4 500 driving hours
   
• 120 radio posts
  14 relays used, of which 7 are installed especially for the race, and 4 ADSL connection bases.

The expo: 'Ultra-Trail® Salon'

• 120 chalets - The most important trail-running show after Running Expo, Paris

Terrain

• 19 communities involved (including the alternative routes)
• 300 km of way-marked itinerary UTMB®, CCC®, TDSä (the PTLä is not way-marked) and 300 km of alternative bad weather routes.
• 457 330 kilometres: total distance run by all the 2012 Finishers (shortened route), or more than 11 times the tour around the Earth (excluding those who abandoned).
• 15 000 way-markers used. Reconditioned each year, 40% are replaced each year (5 workshops of 30 volunteers).
• 48  control points
  • More than 100 000 controls carried out.
• 33 refreshment posts
  • 48 000 Tuc crackers
  • 20 000 cereal bars
  • 7 500 bananas
  • 400 kg of salami
  • 2 600 kg of cheese
  • 8 500 litres of soup
  • 10 000 litres of cola

Registrations

• 1 200 qualifying races listed in the world
• 10 243 registration demands for 2013 : 3171 for the CCC® - 1862 for the TDSä - 4970 for the UTMB® 3700 turned down
• 500 children in the mini races in 2012 (the « minis » took place in the rain).
• 43.2 is the average age for UTMB®  runners: Men and women
• Registration cost
  UTMB® : 160 euros
  CCC® : 110 euros
  TDS™ : 120 euros
  PTL™ : 550 euros/team
  The registration price has almost doubled since the first year. The number of runners, however, has increased tenfold and the increase of costs accordingly.
  The total sum of the registrations serves to finance all the technical (first aid/rescue posts very important) and sporting parts of the race.

An ecological contribution of 1.5 euros/person taken from the registration fee is intended to finance the cleaning, restoration or rehabilitation of paths.

Gifts

• 5 000 T-shirts distributed around Mont-Blanc for the volunteers, communities' technical services members, employees of local partners.
• 4 800 finishers' jackets
• 6 500 runners' t-shirts

Communication

• 3 web-sites : ultratrailmb.com - livetrail - ultratrail.tv
• 215 countries connected on the 3 sites between August 20th 2012 and February 28th 2013.
• 397 330 single visits during the week of the UTMB®.
• 6 175 440 pages seen during the week of the UTMB®.
• 32 000 Facebook fans
• 12 000 signed up to Twitter

34 private partners - 6 public partners

First aid/rescue

The rescue posts are extremely important which is why the unit of the High Mountain Gendarmerie withdrew their assistance because they were afraid that they would be unable to assure non-race rescues in view of the number of runners.

It was necessary to find suitable reception facilities in the villages (rental of tents), to increase the transport plan, and the number of volunteers needing board and lodging and to be transported! ?

A race which is a source of employment!

Internal staff:

• 4 full time staff year round: Catherine et Michel Poletti, Nicolas Lagrange and Nathalie Ecuer.
• 1 part time : Stan Deglaire (5 months per year)
• 3 long term trainees (5/6 months) : Marine (communications), Quentin (Ultra-Trail World Tour), Céline (Natura 2000 and respect for natural environments)
• 2 or 3 supplementary trainees during the summer

External staff :

• LiveTrail: Isabelle Viseux and her team to assure all the timing, race coverage, animation, race management, security management...
• 2 IT engineers to develop and maintain IT applications, to manage the volunteers, partners, registration, refreshment orders, to help with accommodation...
• Run for You : Liaison with partners, VIP and the organisation of the Salon: Jean-Charles Perrin, Romain Piau and Grégoire
• Infocimes: Anne Gery and her team to assure Press relations.
• Explorations: Communication strategy.
• Hosting and pack for VIPs: Anne Hyerard assisted by Sveva Lafont.
• 4 translators to translate all the documents (guides, web-site, social networks, press releases, newsletters) in 5 languages (FR, GB, SP, GER, ITA).
• Dokever assures assistance with medical equipment and medical consumables in partnership with 40 000 € of expenses for an on-call helicopter during 3 days ready to intervene for a rescue mission in the case of the unavailability of official rescue services.
• Fanny Production: Gilles Sourice and his team (8) for all film and TV news images.
• WebTV: Mouss Production + Focale = 30 people.
• Zoom / management of photographers and the photograph library (4 photographers).
• Meteo France: dedicated forecaster for 1 week 24/24.
• WAA: for the management of by-products.

A race, a source of income for the local economy!

• 4.88 nights: average length of stay for runners.
• 60 504 paid nights.
• 12 600 accompanying persons present for the 2012 event of which 5 070 were children.
• 2.31 accompanying persons per runner on average.
• 80.4% of runners paid for accommodation (hotel or rental).
• Accommodation location in order: Chamonix, Les Houches, Courmayeur, Saint-Gervais, Vallorcine, Les Contamines then the other communities.

Solidarity in 2013

• A total of 152 000 euros collected, redistributed to 8 charitable associations.
• 65 solidarity race-bibs sold.
• 22 000 euros collected through registration.

Total financial budget for the organisation: 1 500 000 €

Figures which show the development of a race, but also a local economy which feels the benefit of such a successful event. All summer the mountain huts around Mont-Blanc, the communities and the valleys of the three countries welcome a new clientele who come for reconnaissance trips or simply to walk the paths of one of the biggest races in the world.

The organisation accepts its role as organiser by ceaselessly working and developing optimal security, and at the same time maintaining, to the maximum, an ethical respect for nature and man. The North face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-blanc® is a pioneer race. Renowned today, it has to adapt itself to the evolution of the runners and to the inherent changes to the expansion of the discipline. It is also a reference and a spearhead for all other organisers, athletes and manufacturers of a field in full evolution.

www.ultratrailmb.com - ultratrail.tv 
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