Qualifying races will be evaluated via ITRA and number of points required to qualify goes up for the The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® 2015
To take part in and to finish one or more of the qualifying races has become an obligatory stage for those who wish to acquire the necessary points to register for the UTMB®, CCC® or TDS®. This allows the organisers to ensure runners have the minimum experience.
For the 13th event in 2015, the organisers have chosen to rely on the International Trail Running Association (ITRA) to evaluate, in points, the difficulty of the qualifying races.
Then, it is the organisers of those races who will have to have their events validated by the The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® if they wish their events to become qualifying races. To be selected, the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc ® organisation will verify that there is a sharing of values, respect for the communication charter and information concerning the results.
The number of points necessary
More than 14,000 runners registered in 2014 and 7,500 of them were drawn to be on the starting lines of one of the 5 Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® races. To guarantee equity and experience, the organisers have decided to increase the number of qualifying points required for 2015.
The races certified and evaluated by ITRA, enable runners to gain the necessary experience and an indispensable progression before arriving on the start-line of a big race in the mountains, which accumulates a lot of ascent/descent, has a high mileage and takes place in a very challenging natural environment. The acquisition of autonomy in the mountains is a determining quality when confronting climatic conditions relating to altitude, and the taking of good decisions in the terms of equipment or mental and physical capacity.
Only races run in 2013 or 2014 qualify.
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UTMB® 2015 : 8 points acquired between 01/01/2013 and 31/12/2014 (in a maximum of 3 races) rather than 7 in 2014
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CCC® 2015 : 3 points acquired between 01/01/2013 and 31/12/2014 rather than 2 in 2014
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TDS® 2015 : 3 points acquired between 01/01/2013 and 31/12/2014 rather than 2 in 2014
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OCC : no qualifying race required
How are races certified to become qualifying races?
A member of the ITRA, since its creation in 2013, the organisers of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® have chosen, for 2015, to subscribe to the service, which certifies routes and evaluates the difficulty of trail-races, which was launched by the association on April 17th 2014.
This evaluation can attribute each trail-race with between 1 and 4 points.
Only trail-races, according to the definition drawn up by the ITRA, are evaluated.
Trail-running is a competition run on foot open to everybody, in open country (mountains, desert, forests, on plains....) with a minimum of cement or bitumen roads (which must not exceed 20% of the total distance).
The terrain may be varied (dirt tracks, forest paths, mono-track paths....) and the route must be correctly way-marked.
The race is ideally - but not necessarily - run in semi self-autonomy and takes place with respect to sporting ethic, loyalty, solidarity and the environment.
Classification of trail races
Less than 42km :
Above 42 km :
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Trail Ultra Medium (M) : 42 km to 69 km
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Trail Ultra Long (L) : 70 km to 99 km
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Trail Ultra XLong (XL) : longer than 100 km
Certification of the race profile
Certification of the length of the race: distance, ascent/descent is made in the optimum way by the use of a GPS track (.gpx file). According to the quality of the track a reliable coefficient for the route is attributed: 100% for a GPS track, 90% for a track of a lesser quality or supplied without using a GPS and 0% if no track is supplied.
Evaluation of the difficulty of the race
For single stage races, the evaluation of effort is realised by adding together the distance (in km) and a hundredth of the ascent in metres. For example, the number of effort points for a race of 65km with 3,500m of ascent is: 65 + 3500/100 = 100.
Three other criteria may vary the number of effort points for a race: Coefficient of reliability for the length of the race, semi-autonomy and races in laps.
Accordingly a number of effort points will be attributed to the race:
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1 point for a number of points between 65 and 89,
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2 points for a number of points between 90 and 129,
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3 points for a number of points between 130 and 179,
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4 points 180 and above.
Satge races are analysed separately, with additional criteria concerning the number of stages, the distance and the ascent of the longest stage.
Click here to find out more about ITRA's race evaluation
For more information , visit the race website: www.ultratrailmb.com
Further links: ultratrail.tv, Facebook: www.facebook.com/UltraTrailMontBlanc - Twitter:twitter.com/TNFUTMB
