2015 is another record year for Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® race registrations

Race news: Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® - August 24-30, 2015

From its first year in 2003, the UTMB® saw an astonishing success, with 700 runners registered for an event which at the time didn't seem possible. This success, was confirmed the following year with 1600 runners' requests and hasn't ceased to grow since.

Due to the nature of the paths around Mont-Blanc it has become essential to limit the number of participants to avoid bottle-necks. This was the primary reason for implementing qualifying points as a method of regulating the rise in the number of applicants.

To maintain the quality of the event, the number of participants has been limited since 2005, firstly for the UTMB® (2,300) then, for the other races. In 2007, it became necessary to verify trail-runners' experience by requiring them to have run two races of 50km or one of 80km. But this 'regulator' proved insufficient and in 2008 registration was completed in nine minutes. The organisation inaugurated a system of qualifying points obtained during preliminary races, published in a list, and complimented by a draw to ensure maximum equality.... A true precursory race! Nevertheless, despite these measures the requests for registration do not diminish.

In 2015, as in previous years, new record number of applications was received, despite requirements for an additional qualifying point for three of the races (UTMB® : 8 points, CCC® : 3 points and TDS® : 3 points).

13th year : 15,785 requests, 87 countries, 5 races, 7 500 participants

This year, once again there were many more requests than there were places available :

Record number of countries represented

Another record are the 87 countries represented. For 13 of them groups of at least 100 runners will be on the starting lines. Among these 13 countries, France represents barely 45% of the participants, with a large number entering from Japan, the USA, Brazil and China. Other countries, distant geographically, such as Argentina and Australia, also have large numbers of participants.

The proportion of women continues to rise from one year to the next. They will represent 13.6% of runners this year (25% in the OCC).

Programme of events:

For more information on the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ® please visit -www.ultratrailmb.com - ultratrail.tv 
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