The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc®: What is going on and how to follow the races

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

The organisation, communes, volunteers, partners and, certainly, the 7500 runners, elite and amateurs, are ready. The count down of days and hours has begun.

On Monday, August 24, 2015 at 17:30, the start of the  Petite Trotte à Léon, (PTL) launches the week of Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® races. On the programme: five races, 140 exhibitors in Chamonix for the largest show dedicated to trail-running in France, events around 'The summit of Europe', international exchanges focussing on a combined passions: trail-running and ultra-endurance!

FIGURES FOR  2015 (over the all the 5 races)

• 7 500 registered for the start of one of the races
• 13th year : 87 countries, 5 races
• 15 785 registration requests for 7 500 places
• 143 international elite runners of whom 68 are men and 14 women for the UTMB®
• 55% of runners are international
• 42  is the average age
• 56.4 % for whom it is their first participation
• 130 solidarity race-bibs making  260 000 € for charitable projects

• 2 000 volunteers in  3 countries uniting  19 communes
• 35 doctors, 80 nurses, 150 first-aid/rescue personnel
• 38 refreshment posts
• 3 000 kg of cheese, 9 700 litres of soup, 15 000 litres of coke, 50 000 tuc biscuits, 9 000 bananas
• 11 000 spares' sacks to be managed
• 19 000 people to transport, 150 drivers

• 140 exhibitors, 25 countries, at the Ultra-Trail® salon with 50 000 visitors. The 1st trail-running salon in France.
• 378 km way-marked itineraries for the 4  races, (the PTL® is not way-marked)
• 15 000 way-markers
• 300 km of alternative routes
• 554 086 km run in total by all the finishers in  2014 which is 14 times round the world.
• 53 control points
• 120 radio posts

The UTMB® is the ninth event and a "Series" race counting towards the Ultra-Trail® World Tour, an international circuit of the world's most beautiful races! For more info visit: ultratrail-worldtour.com

New for 2015

L Event Locate Me

"L Event Locate Me" is a smart phone app, available on Android and IOS which allows runners wearing a race-bib to directly alert the rescue/first aid by sending a text message  containing the race-bib number and the GPS location directly to the organisation to limit search and rescue times.

Certain zones are not covered by the GSM network, this app is not a substitute for other means of alert which the runner must  prioritise, using  the conventional means. This service is not activated until the beginning of the race.

Events sponsored by Columbia:

Photo supporter "UTMB®, j'y suis"

Supporters, families or friends will be able to have their photo taken and say "j'y suis !"(I am there).

Visitors can be photographed:

• at the entrance of the Ultra-Trail®  Salon Wednesday August 26th and Thursday August 27th. Decor made to measure.
• along the route of the  UTMB® and the  CCC® Friday 28th , Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th August

Rendezvous with the photographers present along the route :

• Friday 14:30 - 22:30 : Champex-lac - CCC®
• Friday  16:00 - Midnight: Chamonix (start) -  les Houches - Saint-Gervais - les Contamines - UTMB®
• Saturday  09:00 - 17:00 : Courmayeur - Chamonix - UTMB®
• Saturday 08:00 - 16:00 : Trient - Vallorcine - UTMB®
• Sunday  07:00 -15:00 : Flégère - Chamonix - UTMB®

The photos in high definition will available free on-line or by email.

Freedom: the Eagle's vision

Columbia, in partnership with Freedom, have created a link to allow the Eagle to share its vision of the UTMB®.

Several 'fly-overs' are planned and in particular :

• Wednesday: take off the eagle from the  Brévent at 10:00 to land at the  champ du Savoy during the Mini races between  15:00 and 16:00.
• Friday from 16:00 to 19:00 : presentation of several eagles, vultures and other large birds on the place du Triangle de l'Amitié in Chamonix during the start of the UTMB®.

How to follow the races...

1) LiveTrail®:

1.1 - utmb.livetrail.net

• Lists of the participants and favourites for each race, each runner's list of wins, rankings and results.
• Follow each runner on-line stage by stage with an idea of the expected time of passage at following points
  • The possibility of establishing a list of favourites to follow
  • Follow the race leader stage by stage on-line

1.2 - Follow by text message (SMS):

Follow all the runners stage by stage with registration as from August 10th at www.utmb.livetrail.net

1.3 - 5 webcams

Positioned along the route, at the entrance to checkpoints and at the finish, the webcams allow friends and family to follow their runners live ! Coupled with following via LiveTrail and its provisions of passage, spectators can also estimate a runner's passage and be connected at the right moment.

1.4 - 5 App LiveTrail on Facebook

All runners wishing to post a message on their Facebook wall at each of their passages through a control point can load the App LiveTrail. : apps.facebook.com/livetrail-net/
For more details go to: utmb.livetrail.net

2) Instant news posted on Facebook and Twitter !

Follow all the races at  www.facebook.com/UltraTrailMontBlanc - twitter.com/UTMBMontBlanc

3) Web-TV at : www.ultratrail.tv

The  UTMB® Web TV brings to life the main moments of this mad week by broadcasting them on ultratrail.tv

The starts, finishes, following the race leader, but also the presentation of the most beautiful passages of the route and the high-lights.... Just as if you were there!

Direct coverage of the big moments in 3 streams simultaneously, French, English and Spanish is planned from Friday morning until Sunday.

An exceptional organisation of communal transport gives easy access to all the villages traversed by the runners. So as not to be stressed on often unknown roads, to respect the environment and also to avoid blocking the roads.

A mobility guide is downloadable and available at the event's "Info" points in Chamonix.

For those accompanying persons who wish to follow the race: Unlimited Bus pass from Wednesday 26th to Sunday 30th August: price 30€

On sale at the "Transport" stand at the race-bib distribution and from the event's "Info" points in Chamonix.

All information available at : www.ultratrailmb.com > Practical information > Transport

Events and parties in the 3 Mont-Blanc countries

In each community, in each country, the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® races are an occasion for great entertainment. All these are listed here: www.ultratrailmb.com/page/54/Animations.html

Ultra-Trail®   Salon

Situated in the heart of  Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, the 2015 Ultra-Trail® Salon will welcome players from the world of trail-running.

In eight years the salon has become the largest international salon dedicated to trail-running and open-country running.

Taking place under the sign of conviviality and sporting ethic, the salon offers the possibility of sharing the passion for trail-running and open country races around an interested and captive target audience.

The village concept is largely approved of by the exhibitors. Built entirely of wooden chalets, it is installed a few hundred metres from the start of some of the  Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® races.

For 4 days, from Tuesday August 25th at 13:00 until Friday August 28th at 13:00, it's  all the actors involved with the economy of trail-running who are united at the foot of Mont-Blanc !

• 140 exhibitors present (partners, equipment manufacturers, industrialists proposing technical or food products which are adapted to the practice of trail running, race organisers...)
• 37 % of exhibitors are international
• 5 continents, 25 countries
• 50 000 visitor expected
• 4 days for sharing the passion of open country races
• 1 area dedicated to brands with their latest merchandise (equipment manufacturers, nutritional products, accessories...)
• 1 area dedicated (new location for 2015) to race organisers
• 52 trail-race organisers coming from world-wide (16 countries in total)
• Animations organised by our partners aimed at children but also for adults

Conferences at the Ultra-Trail®Salon

• Tuesday August 25th
  • 16:00 - 17:30 _ Blaise Dubois : "Trail-runners' little secrets  : preventing injuries, shoes and race techniques" (in French)
• Wednesday August 26th
  • 10:30 - 12:00 _ Corinne Peirano:
    "Making a success of your refreshments : how to manage your energising snacks while in full effort to make good progress in your race" (In French)
  • 14:30 - 16:00 _ Jean-Christophe Beche, Président de l'association de prévention et de secours La Chamoniarde:
    "Trail-running and the high mountain: what are the limits ?" (In French)
  • 17:00 - 18:30 _ Dr Pierre Sallet & Dr Patrick Basset:
    "For health trail-running practice: the health policy developed by the ITRA and AFT"(In French)
• Thursday August 27th
  • 14:30 - 16:00 _ Dr Patrick Basset & Jean-luc Lastiolas: "How to drink during a trail-running race?" (In French)
  • 17:00 - 18:30 _ Rémy Hurdiel:  "Can we not sleep during the UTMB® ?" (In French)
• Friday August 28th
  • 10:30 - 12:00 _ With a representative of the ministry of the Town,  Young and Sports; Round Table "Events and eco-responsibility" (In French)

Events at the salon

• The UCPA "Vallée de Chamonix" offers, throughout the duration of the salon, free animation for children: a climbing wall (with qualified instructor) and two trampolines.
• The association "Les Connexions" offers an area of  36m2 dedicated to informing sports people and visitors about ecological gestures - "tri"- recycling waste. The animation is in a fun educational mode thanks to specific and adapted tools supplied by the partners Tri' Tour (participatory games, guides, signs). This space has ecological wooden furniture made in the Haute Savoie.
• Vibram sole factor  Upgrade, improve, up-cycle your trail-running shoes with Vibram® megagrip! Give them more life, improve the performance of your trail-running shoes with  Vibram® megagrip !
  The "Vibram truck" is calling at Chamonix for the UTMB®. Aboard keen trail-runners can have their trail-running shoes resoled for free with the latest Vibram® soles made of megagrip rubber.
  The offer is limited to 1 pair per person within the limit of the 20 pairs resoled each day.
• Buff invites its athletes to a  meet the public and dedication session, Thursday August 27th at 18:30s
• Renault presents its new Crossover KADJAR with an athletic design.
  Game "Instant gagnant"(instant winner)  to gain buckets of strong sensations and weekends away in the KADJAR !