(Chamonix) Twenty years after its creation, the Ultra-trail du Mont-Blanc still has its share of surprises in store. American Courtney Dauwalter and her compatriot Jim Walmsley won the 20th edition of the 173 km race around the roof of Europe on Saturday in Chamonix, in an unprecedented double for the United States and historic at several respects.
A little before 6 p.m., under the sun of Haute-Savoie, thousands of enthusiasts gathered near the finish line applauded wildly for a great first in the history of trail running. Crossing the line in first place after 23 hours 29 minutes and 14 seconds of racing, Courtney Dauwalter became the first athlete of any gender to win three major races in the same year over the ultra distance.
“The second half of the race was very, very hard for me, my body didn’t want to move forward anymore and I had a stomach ache. I almost returned my lunch in the streets of Champex-Lac, but I managed to drag myself to the finish line, “explained this former science teacher, without losing the broad smile that she continued to show throughout the race, despite the 10,000 meters of elevation gain of the course.
Its competitors could only hope for a few hours on Friday, before Dauwalter took the lead, to quickly post nearly an hour ahead. “I think whenever we’re given the opportunity to do something a little crazy or difficult, we have to do it. And this race, it was completely crazy. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it,” said the American champion.
Behind her, Germany’s Katharina Hartmuth (2nd) and China’s Fuzhao Xiang (3rd) completed the women’s podium.
The 38-year-old Colorado resident stands out from other athletes in the race with her atypical look: casual shorts and wired headphones often screwed on the ears. She came to the fore relatively late, at only 25 years old. Since then, she totally dominates her sport, pushes the limits, and regularly beats the best male athletes over distances exceeding 100 or even 200 km.
His record includes victories in more than fifteen major events. She is notably the only woman to have won the four most prestigious ultra-trails in the world: the Ultra-trail du Mont-Blanc (2019, 2021, 2023), the Diagonale des Fous à la Réunion (2022, at a breath of the men’s podium), the Western States (2018, 2023) and the Hardrock 100 (2022, 2023). And these last three trophies on races of more than 160 km (Western States, Hardock 100, UTMB) were gleaned in just three months from June to August…
“It’s really amazing and just unheard of. She managed to achieve a feat of another level,” said her compatriot Jim Walmsey, after his own victory over the UTMB for men, in 19 hours 37 minutes and 43 seconds.
Very moved on his arrival, this former soldier born in Phoenix took his wife in his arms, before greeting, in tears, François D’Haene, quadruple winner of the event, friend and training partner.
A native of Arizona and settled in the French Alps since 2022 to prepare for the race, Walmsley crossed the line twenty minutes ahead of his compatriot Zach Miller (7:58 p.m.: 58 p.m.), to become the first American to win the overall test.
“I think what made the difference was that I felt good at altitude,” Walmsley explained. “Coming to live here in France for two years to train for this race, it had a big impact on my ability on steep climbs,” he said. Frenchman Germain Grangier took third place more than ten minutes behind Miller.
Walmsley beat the time set by Spaniard Kilian Jornet last year (7:49:30 p.m.), but his performance is not considered a record, as the layout was changed and slightly simplified by the organizers in beginning of the week because of the bad weather that affected the region.