The American festival is celebrated today in style in Chamonix, in the heart of the French Alps, a historic day for runners in the United States, for men, who until now had resisted the ultra-distance race of reference , the Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. To the fifth, to the charm. Jim Walmsley’s perseverance has finally paid off. The 33-year-old athlete from Arizona crossed the finish line in Chamonix at 1:37 p.m. with a time of 19h37m43s wrapped in the epic musical of the Chariots of Fire by Vangelis and with a crowd cheering him on after a dizzying journey. 171 kilometers with 10,000 meters of positive elevation gain around the Mont-Blanc massif.
Walmsley has played for the lead of the race with another athlete from the United States, Zach Miller, who has entered in second position, 21 minutes later. And it all does not end here as Courtney Dauwalter, from Minnesota, the big star of the day, is expected to culminate his third UTMB victory this afternoon, a summer in which he has also prevailed in two other reference superraces of 171 km, Western States and Hardrock, both in the US.
Thousands of people have packed the streets of Chamonix to the finish line, among them many Americans thrilled with the results of their compatriots. The first tear was already beginning to appear in some faces when Born in the USA sounded, a prelude to the triumphant Chariots of Fire. In this wild and strenuous race, emotion is on the surface, even for the companions who provide assistance to the participants. When asked, upon reaching the finish line, how he felt, Walmsley confessed that he was “terrible”. The key to his achieving it in his fifth attempt is his obsession with the UTMB that led him to settle in France in 2022.
Walmsley lives in Beufortain, less than two hours from Chamonix, which has allowed him to prepare thoroughly in these mountains. In addition, he has had the plus of having the support of the experienced François d’Haene, the French athlete who, like the Catalan Kilian Jornet, has won the UTMB four times. D’Haene has trained with Walmsley in the Alps in recent months, and throughout the itinerary, which started yesterday Saturday at 6:00 p.m., he has encouraged and advised him. At the finish line, in addition to the couple and other relatives of Walmsley, there was D’Haene, to whom the victory of his friend has known as his own triumph.
Walmsley set a time of 19h37m43s against Kilian Jornet’s 2022 record of 19h49m30s, the first time in history that he dropped below 20 hours. But it must be qualified that the current one is a route that does not coincide exactly with that of the last edition. The most relevant change that has been introduced is that now the race does not go through the Tête aux Vents. Although the total distance and the unevenness is more or less the same, the new layout of this trao is less technical than the previous one, which, according to the organizers, implies that they can reduce between 20 and 30 minutes of time, in the total computation of men, and from 25 to 35, in the case of women.
