The marquee event of UTMB week promised to pack a punch with a deep lineup of elite athletes facing challenging course and weather conditions. The 100-mile event, which features a 171km course crossing through France, Switzerland, and Italy, is considered one of the most challenging events in ultra-trail running, with the biggest stars of the sport converging in Chamonix every year for their shot at glory.
Men’s Race: Walmsley Misses A Repeat And An Underdog Emerges To Victory
Vincent Bouillard of France stunned the trail-running world by winning the 2024 UTMB.
Bouillard seized the lead before the race’s halfway point following the surprising exit of defending champion Jim Walmsley, who was dealing with a knee injury. From that moment, Bouillard extended his lead, crossing the finish line in 19:54:23.
He becomes just the fifth person to complete the race in under 20 hours, finishing nearly 30 minutes ahead of the competition.
Despite some significant wins in the past, including the 100-mile Kodiak Ultra Marathons and the Gorge Waterfalls 100K in the United States, Bouillard was not considered a top contender and even lacked a photo on UTMB’s website and wore bib number 139, far from the single-digit numbers of the top-ranked runners.
Bouillard balances his running career with a full-time job as a senior manager in product engineering and innovation for HOKA, the race’s main sponsor.
French runner Baptiste Chassagne claimed second place, while Joaquin Lopez from Ecuador took third.
How The Race Played Out
This year’s edition of UTMB was particularly grueling, exacerbated by high temperatures that led to numerous withdrawals. Walmsley was among the most notable to drop out, alongside past winners like Pau Capell, 2022 runner-up Mathieu Blanchard, and third-place finisher Tom Evans, all exiting during the early hours of Saturday morning.
Bouillard’s steady strategy paid off as he gradually climbed the ranks, moving from ninth place at the 40km mark to the front when Walmsley withdrew. Once in the lead, he maintained his position through to the finish.
As Bouillard approached La Flégère, the last significant climb, he held a comfortable lead of more than 30 minutes. The hot weather meant a mandatory kit check for all runners, and Bouillard, arriving first, had to quickly find his second water vessel, which was initially misplaced.
After a brief delay and a moment of panic, he found the required gear and continued to the finish line in Chamonix, where he celebrated his impressive victory.
Chassagne finished 28 minutes later, securing a French one-two finish.
Men’s Top Five
- Vincent Bouillard (FRA) – 19:54:23
- Baptiste Chassagne (FRA) – 20:22:45
- Joaquin Lopez (ECU) – 20:26:26
- Hannes Namberger (GER) – 20:31:54
- Ludovic Pommeret (FRA) – 20:58:18
Women’s Race: Katie Schide Doubles Up With New Course Record
Katie Schide delivered a remarkable performance at the 2024 UTMB, breaking records and achieving a notable Western States/UTMB double. While Jim Walmsley’s attempt at the same feat in the men’s race ended prematurely due to his withdrawal, Schide’s race went off without a hitch.
Schide confirmed her participation just three weeks before the race, waiting to see how her recovery from her Western States victory in late June would progress.
Despite the short notice, she stayed ahead of the course record pace for the entirety of the race, beating the previous fastest time set by ultrarunning legend Courtney Dauwalter in 2021.
Schide finished in 22:09:31, breaking Dauwalter’s record of 22:30:55 by over 20 minutes.
With this victory, Schide becomes only the second woman to win both Western States and UTMB in the same year, following in the footsteps of Dauwalter, who also added a Hardrock 100 win for a historic triple the previous year.
This was also Schide’s second UTMB win, having first claimed the title in 2022 after a fierce competition with Canada’s Marianne Hogan, who, despite dislocating a finger during a fall, secured another podium finish this year’s race.
How The Race Played Out
Schide took the lead early, one so commanding that her competitors never came close to threatening.
At the 51 km mark, Schide was already 30 minutes ahead of her next fastest competitors, and by 101 km, she had extended her lead to 50 minutes. Although the gap narrowed slightly towards the end, she still maintained a massive advantage of nearly 40 minutes at the final checkpoint in La Flégère.
Despite showing some signs of fatigue as she cautiously descended into Chamonix, Schide completed the race and wrote her name in the history books.
New Zealand’s Ruth Croft, aiming to be the first woman to win the OCC, CCC, and UTMB, overtook Hogan on the final climb and finished nearly 40 minutes behind Schide in second place.
Women’s Top Five
- Katie Schide (USA) – 22:09:31
- Ruth Croft (NZL) – 22:48:37
- Marianne Hogan (CAN) – 23:11:15
- Lin Chin (CHN) – 24:16:33
- Blandine Hirondel (FRA) – 24:35:54
