2023 UTMB Girls’s Preview – iRunFar

The 2023 UTMB units off from Chamonix, France, on Friday, September 1, every week later than regular. This additional week of restoration and preparation time will likely be welcome for the growing variety of runners who’re coming to UTMB having already accomplished a number of main 100 miler this season, specifically the Western States 100 and Hardrock 100. It’s a pretty new discipline for this 12 months’s UTMB girls’s race with simply three of final 12 months’s prime 10 returning. Apparently, the beginning listing additionally consists of 4 of this 12 months’s Western States 100 prime 10 and has loads of different large names in rivalry to combine it up.

Whereas there will likely be numerous expectations resting on the shoulders of Courtney Dauwalter to proceed her unparalleled profitable streak of path 100 milers, there are many girls able to problem her. High returning lady Eszter Csillag, who completed in fifth place at UTMB final 12 months and lately took third on the Western States 100, will certainly be within the combine. So too will earlier Western States 100 winner Ruth Croft.

The road-up additionally options some very promising 100-mile debutants, together with two-time path world champion, Blandine L’Hirondel, and this 12 months’s Path World Championships 80k second-place lady, Katharina Hartmuth. The sphere additionally has a number of 100-mile specialists similar to Sabrina Stanley, Lucy Bartholomew, and Anna Carlsson.

For many who aren’t acquainted, the UTMB follows the enduring Tour du Mont Blanc route in a counterclockwise route, protecting 171 kilometers (106.2 miles) with virtually 10,000 meters (32,700 toes) of elevation acquire because it encircles the Mont Blanc massif from Chamonix, France, by Italy and Switzerland, earlier than ending again in Chamonix.

A particular because of HOKA for making our protection of UTMB attainable!

Thanks additionally to Goodr for its help of our UTMB protection.

Tune in to our reside protection of UTMB beginning at 6 p.m. CEST (10 a.m. MDT within the U.S.) on Friday, September 1, proper right here on iRunFar. Keep tuned!

You’ll wish to additionally learn our in-depth 2023 UTMB males’s preview for a have a look at the lads’s race — it publishes tomorrow.

It’s also possible to see the race group’s prime runners listing.

2023 UTMB Girls’s Favorites for the Win

Courtney Dauwalter

With an already dominant place within the sport, American Courtney Dauwalter has continued to go from energy to energy the previous couple of years and is the odds-on favourite at this 12 months’s UTMB. The 2-time champion and reigning course-record holder final raced right here in 2021 when she set the course file in a time of twenty-two:30, bettering on her 2019 profitable time by simply over two hours. Extra lately this summer season, she gained the 2023 Western States 100 and in doing so broke Ellie Greenwood’s revered course file by a staggering 78 minutes, after which she adopted it up three weeks later with a win and one other course file on the 2023 Hardrock 100. Dauwalter will profit from a little bit extra restoration time on account of UTMB being every week later than typical this 12 months, and it appears extra probably than not that she is going to nail this one too.

Eszter Csillag

Eszter Csillag is the highest returning lady from final 12 months’s UTMB, and the Hungarian who lives in Hong Kong has solely gotten stronger since her fifth-place 2022 UTMB end, in what was her debut 100 miler. She went on to take fourth on the 2022 Path World Championships 80k and most lately positioned third at this 12 months’s Western States 100 — progressively climbing up the sector in her trademark type. As a relative newcomer to elite-level ultrarunning, Csillag has been on a meteoric rise since she took fourth on the CCC in 2021 — simply 4 months after giving start to her second daughter — and will likely be in with an actual shot of ending on the rostrum.

Ruth Croft

New Zealander Ruth Croft has loads of expertise at profitable races in Chamonix, however this will likely be her first UTMB. She gained the OCC in each 2019 and 2018, and the Marathon du Mont Blanc in 2018. When it comes to 100-mile expertise, Croft ran a robust second place in her 100-mile debut on the 2021 Western States 100 and went on to win the race the next 12 months. Final 12 months, she additionally completed second at Les Templiers 80k. Whereas it’s arduous to see her besting Dauwalter, she ought to be in with a very robust probability of a podium.

Blandine L’Hirondel

Perhaps essentially the most promising 100-mile debutant on this 12 months’s UTMB is France’s Blandine L’Hirondel. What seemed like a glitch within the matrix noticed her DNF this 12 months’s Path World Championships 80k, the place she was hotly fancied for the win, nevertheless it later transpired this was right down to a foot damage she carried into the race. Fortunately, L’Hirondel confirmed on her social media in mid-July that she is recovered and desperate to tackle her first 100 miler. The 2-time path working world champion — in 2022 and 2019 — has climbed the ladder at UTMB occasions, setting each the CCC course file in 2022 and the OCC course file in 2021.

Katharina Hartmuth

Katharina Hartmuth of Germany has an outstanding strike charge and has hardly ever completed off the rostrum in any extremely, save for a fourth-place end on the 2023 Transgrancanaria Basic 128k. She positioned third within the TDS final 12 months and has solely been getting higher — profitable the Eiger Extremely Path 101k for the final two years consecutively and ending second on this 12 months’s Path World Championships 80k. That is her first UTMB, however she beforehand gained the Swiss Alps 100 Mile in 2021 over related terrain and elevation.

Manon Bohard Cailler

Manon Bohard Cailler was a part of the French crew that took gold at this 12 months’s Path World Championships 80k, the place she additionally took particular person bronze. That beastly mountain race was an ideal tune-up for UTMB, and she or he ought to be a robust contender. On earlier ventures to Chamonix, she gained the TDS in 2021 however DNFed the CCC in 2019. Her win on the Madeira Island Extremely-Path earlier this 12 months was an absolute tour de pressure the place she led from the start and appeared to develop in energy because the miles rolled by, finally profitable by a 52-minute margin.

Clare Gallagher

The U.S.’s Clare Gallagher didn’t end on her final try at UTMB in 2018, however there’s a lot to counsel she might nail it this time. Her earlier 100-mile expertise consists of profitable final 12 months’s Leadville 100 Mile and the 2019 Western States 100. No stranger to the paths of Chamonix, she additionally gained the CCC again in 2017. She confirmed a promising begin to her season this 12 months with a win on the Chuckanut 50k however had a beneath par run on the Path World Championships 80k in June.

Different High Girls on the 2023 UTMB

Martina Valmassoi

This can technically be Martina Valmassoi’s first 100 miler, however her win ultimately 12 months’s TDS virtually counts. She’s having an important 12 months this 12 months too, with an excellent run on the Path World Championships 80k in June to take fourth and a win on the Transvulcania Ultramarathon in Might. Valmassoi is a distance all-rounder, profitable all the pieces from vertical-kilometer races to lengthy ultras, and she or he excels on mountainous programs. She shouldn’t be too removed from the entrance.

Claudia Tremps

Second behind Valmassoi ultimately 12 months’s TDS was Spain’s Claudia Tremps, who additionally took ninth at UTMB in 2021. She’s been on an upward curve since that and took third on this 12 months’s Transgrancanaria Basic 128k and second in final 12 months’s Extremely Pirineu 100k. She ought to have probability of transferring additional up the placings in her second run at UTMB.

Maite Maiora

Maite Maiora took third at UTMB in 2019, however failed to complete upon return in 2021. This appeared to be extra of a blip than the rest, because the Spaniard positioned eighth within the Path World Championships 80k in 2022 and gained the Skyrunning World Championships 68k in 2019. Already this 12 months, she’s gained the Path Alsace Grand Est 100 Mile. Going again additional, she positioned second within the CCC in 2017 and second within the Marathon du Mont-Blanc in 2015.

Fu-Zhao Xiang

This will likely be China’s Fu-Zhao Xiang’s fourth UTMB, and thus far, her performances hold getting higher. Most lately, she positioned seventh ultimately 12 months’s race in a time of 27:14 — bettering in each time and inserting on her 28:57, Eleventh-place end in 2019, and 30-plus-hour end in 2018. A few of her different performances — together with a win on the 2021 Doi Inthanon 100 Mile and a very quick win on the 2020 Hong Kong 100k — counsel she may need extra to supply on this lap round Mont Blanc than her earlier outings counsel.

Luzia Buehler

In 2021, Luzia Buehler made amends for 2 earlier DNFs when she took fifth at UTMB. The Swiss lady has a depth of ultra-trail expertise, together with inserting fourth on the Western States 100 final 12 months, and wins on the Sean O’Brien 100k in 2020 and Georgia Dying Race in 2019. She’s on kind this 12 months too, having taken second on the Madeira Island Extremely-Path and profitable the Lake Zurich 100k, and is one to observe.

Aroa Sio

Spain’s Aroa Sio took eighth place ultimately 12 months’s UTMB and has confirmed bettering kind since that, taking third in an in depth race on the 2023 Tarawera 100k, lower than 5 minutes off the entrance. She additionally took third on the 2023 Canyons 100k for the second consecutive 12 months — right here’s her interview from 2022. Earlier to final 12 months’s UTMB, she took twelfth on the 2022 Western States 100. It seems that this will likely be simply her third 100 miler, so she would possibly have the ability to construct on a robust begin on the distance this 12 months.

Ailsa MacDonald

Canada’s Ailsa MacDonald took second on the 2022 Western States 100 and gained the Tarawera 100 Mile in 2020, however suffered a DNF at UTMB in 2021, which she’ll probably be seeking to right. Though the vast majority of her expertise appears to be over routes with much less elevation acquire and loss — together with a win on the Bandera 100k in 2020 — she has put down run on the second half of the UTMB course, inserting sixth within the 2019 CCC.

Taylor Nowlin

One other promising UTMB first-timer, Taylor Nowlin from the U.S. is recent off a sixth-place end on the 2023 Western States 100. She improved her end at Western States from the earlier 12 months by one place, knocking 66 minutes off her time — albeit in cool situations. Nowlin additionally took ninth in an exceptionally aggressive CCC final 12 months and had the identical inserting within the OCC the 12 months earlier. A top-10 inserting at UTMB appears to be the subsequent logical step.

Leah Yingling

A part of a decent chasing pack, Leah Yingling completed simply 9 minutes — however three locations — behind Taylor Nowlin at this 12 months’s Western States 100, in ninth. This was the American’s second top-10 end on the occasion; she took sixth in 2022. She appears to have the 100-mile distance nicely tamed, and outdoors of Western States has additionally positioned second within the Bear 100 Mile in 2021 and 2018. She doesn’t have a complete lot of European racing expertise — she DNFed the 2019 TDS — however she did place third on the Transgrancanaria Superior 65k in 2022.

Sabrina Stanley

Sabrina Stanley has waited a very long time to race UTMB and can certainly make it rely. The American was out of luck final 12 months, contracting COVID-19 simply days earlier than the race and withdrawing, earlier than struggling a DNF on the Diagonale des Fous later within the autumn. Nevertheless, a stable run to position second at this 12 months’s Extremely-Path Snowdonia 100 Mile suggests a return to her earlier good kind that noticed her win the Hardrock 100 twice — in 2021 and 2018 — and the Diagonale des Fous in 2019.

Lucy Bartholomew

We’ve seen a bit much less of Australia’s Lucy Bartholomew at large worldwide ultras in recent times, however this 12 months thus far she’s positioned second on the Extremely-Path Australia 100k, had a commanding win on the Tarawera 100 Mile, and gained the Bandera 50k. Going again additional, she positioned third on the 2018 Western States 100 and in addition took fifth on the TDS in 2017.

Anna Carlsson

Sweden’s Anna Carlsson appears to be a little bit of an all or nothing sort of runner. It seems that from her final 10 extremely begins, she completed on six podiums and had three DNFs. The remaining consequence was a robust fourth place on the TDS in 2019. Her greatest outcomes embody taking third on the 2022 Diagonale des Fous and profitable each the Kullamannen 100 Mile and Val d’Aran 100 Mile in 2021. This 12 months, she gained the EcoTrail Copenhagen 50 Mile.

Emma Pooley

Switzerland’s Emma Pooley is healthier recognized for shorter distances, having lately positioned ninth on the 2023 Sierre-Zinal, three weeks earlier than UTMB race day, and UTMB will likely be her first foray into the 100-mile distance. When it comes to ultrarunning expertise, she positioned Eleventh on the 2022 Path World Championships 80k, took second on the 2022 Eiger Extremely Path 101k, and gained the 2021 Extremely Tour Monte Rosa 100k. She might discover new strengths on the 100-mile distance.

Katarzyna Solińska

Poland’s Katarzyna Solińska completed 18th ultimately 12 months’s UTMB, which was probably beneath expectations after her second-place end on the Lavaredo Extremely Path earlier that 12 months. She additionally completed fifth on the CCC in 2021 and has a string of nice outcomes at shorter distances — together with a win at this 12 months’s Path Verbier Saint-Bernard 76k. As this will likely be simply her second 100 miler, and the expertise from final 12 months might see her transfer additional up the sector.

Anna McKenna

Australia’s Anna McKenna is a relative newcomer to the game however has been making her presence felt. She began out by inserting third within the Extremely-Path Australia 50k in 2021, earlier than graduating to win the 100k on the similar occasion the next 12 months. This 12 months she’s positioned fourth in each the Canyons 100k and Tarawera 100k. UTMB will likely be her first 100 miler.

Nonetheless Extra Quick Girls on the 2023 UTMB

There are much more fast girls who need to make their mark on this 12 months’s UTMB.

• Claire Bannwarth (France) – 1st 2023 Tahoe 200 Mile; fifth 2023 Hardrock 100; third 2023 Extremely-Path Snowdonia 100 Mile
• Amanda Basham (U.S.) – 2nd 2019 CCC; 4th 2023 Bandera 100k; 4th 2021 Speedgoat 50k
• Elisabeth Borgersen (Norway) – ninth 2023 Transvulcania Ultramarathon; sixth & seventh 2019 & 2018 TDS; sixth 2016 OCC
• Cat Bradley (U.S.) – eighth 2018 UTMB; 1st 2021 Javelina 100k; 1st 2017 Western States 100
• Elise Delannoy (France) – seventh 2019 UTMB; tenth 2023 Mont-Blanc 90k
• Melanie Delasoie (Switzerland) – sixteenth 2022 UTMB; fifth 2023 Eiger Extremely Path 101k; seventh 2023 Mont-Blanc 90k
• Basilia Förster (Italy) – fifteenth 2022 UTMB; 1st 2022 Grossglockner Extremely-Path 100k; third 2022 Path Andorra 100k
• Emily Gilmour-Walsh (Australia) – 1st 2023 Extremely-Path Australia 100k; ninth 2017 Tarawera 87k
• Ida-Sophie Hegemann (Germany) – fifteenth 2023 Path World Championships 80k; third 2023 Istria 100k
• Martina Klancnik Potrč (Slovenia) – twenty fifth 2023 Path World Championships 80k; sixth 2023 Transgrancanaria Basic 128k
• Sarah Ludowici (Australia) – third 2021 Extremely-Path Australia 100k; seventh 2020 Tarawera 100k
• Anne-Marie Madden (Canada) – Eleventh 2022 Western States 100; third 2022 Black Canyon 100k
• Kerry-Ann Marshall (South Africa) – fifth, 2nd, & 1st 2021, 2018, & 2015 Extremely-Path Cape City 100k; 2nd 2022 Extremely-Path Cape City 100 Mile; sixth 2016 Comrades Marathon
• Jo Meek (U.Ok.) – twenty first 2021 UTMB; 1st 2023 Amazean Jungle Thailand 54k
• Kimino Miyazaki (Japan) – 4th 2023 Hardrock 100; 1st 2023 Istria 100 Mile; 2nd 2023 Tarawera 100 Mile
• Mariya Nikolova (Bulgaria) – ninth 2018 & 2017 UTMB; 2nd 2023 Istria 100 Mile
• Veronica Ramirez (Argentina) – 2nd, third, & third 2022, 2021, & 2019 Patagonia Run 100 Mile
• Elisabeth Rios (Bolivia) – 2nd 2023 Val d’Aran 100k; eighth 2022 Transvulcania Ultramarathon
• Emily Vaudan (Switzerland) – twelfth 2022 UTMB; 1st 2022 Path Verbier Saint-Bernard 140k; fifth 2021 Madeira Island Extremely Path
• Ildikó Wermescher (Hungary) – ninth & seventh 2019 & 2016 UTMB; third 2017 & 2012 TDS

Girls Nonetheless on Entrants Checklist However Not Racing the 2023 UTMB

• Abby Corridor (U.S.) – third, 2nd, & eighth 2022, 2021, & 2019 CCC

Name for Feedback

• What are your predictions?
• Do you assume Courtney Dauwalter can pull off the last word triple crown, profitable the Western States 100, Hardrock 100, and UTMB in a single season?
• Is there another person you fancy for the win or a podium?
• Is there anybody we haven’t talked about who you assume ought to be up there?