On Thursday, UTMB/Ironman introduced that the primary Canadian addition to their UTMB World Sequence can be held in Whistler in September 2024, the month when Gary Robbins historically hosted the extensively revered Whistler Alpine Meadows occasion. UTMB Whistler organizers couldn’t have anticipated the widespread response of shock that despatched shockwaves by the trail-running neighborhood and picked up pace on social media over the next days.
In February of 2023, Robbins introduced on Instagram that it had turn into “crystal clear there was no path ahead” for Coast Mountain Path Operating (CMTR) to proceed to carry Whistler Alpine Meadows (WAM) a well-liked occasion with a wide range of races, from a vertical kilometre to a 100-miler. The occasion was completely cancelled. Whereas Robbins didn’t give specifics, many athletes speculated that Vail Resorts, the workforce that owns Whistler Blackcomb (ski resort), had made it unimaginable for WAM to proceed. In response to UTMB’s announcement on Thursday, Robbins wrote a weblog submit, titled ‘What Actually Went Down in Whistler with the WAM Races’ and the Web erupted.
Robbins is the director (with companion Geoff Langford) of CMTR and their races have attracted most of the large names in ultra-trail, together with Courtney Dauwalter, Dakota Jones and Mike Wardian. Identified for greeting each single runner at his occasions with a hug or high-five on the end line, Robbins and his races characterize all the most effective elements of path working to many athletes–widespread neighborhood involvement, help for native companies and a deal with sustainability.
Canadian path icon Ellie Greenwood (and former Western States 100 course report holder) was one of many first to share her dismay towards UTMB, whose title previously few years has not solely represented the favored 171K extremely in Chamonix, but additionally stands for a mega-buck enterprise partnership (as of 2021) with Ironman.
“NO. We had an alpine playground earlier than you, UTMB,” Greenwood shared on X (previously Twitter). “Our native devoted race administrators (Coast Mountain Path) had an excellent VK, 25k, 50k, 110k and 100 miler however received pushed out final 12 months. Good luck getting locals to volunteer, we’ll be serving to on the different tremendous CMTR occasions as a substitute.”
Greenwood’s response has been echoed all through the neighborhood, from common runners to the most effective within the sport. UTMB course report holder and 2023 winner, Jim Walmsley, shared a Strava exercise titled “So what can we race subsequent 12 months then?”
They bided their time as Vail cratered WAM. Made it unimaginable for WAM to launch. Then Vail stated it was @CoastMtnTrail‘s fault simply to be further assholes. Then UTMB/Ironman swoops in, steals the concept. It is even the identical weekend. So clear. Fuck that. Fuck Vail, UTMB & Ironman https://t.co/WSoAhconVv
— Linda Barton-Robbins (@lindabear78) October 26, 2023
UTMB and CMTR aren’t strangers: they met on a video name in September 2022, after the ultimate version of Whistler Alpine Meadows, to debate the potential for UTMB buying one in all CMTR’s races. Each side are tied in an NDA, however Robbins says that he shared some non-negotiables through the assembly with UTMB: “our neighborhood help applications, our volunteer appreciation applications, and so forth.” Robbins was instructed that these points had been a dialog for one more time and wrote that he had not heard again from UTMB since June.
Robbins says he’s now grateful the dialog with UTMB didn’t progress. “I used to be giving them the advantage of the doubt, however in my coronary heart I all the time knew higher,” he wrote. “I’m embarrassed to must admit that I nearly let a fox within the hen home.”
Robbins cites a extreme lack of communication on the a part of Vail Resorts as a part of the issue, in addition to unreasonable requests relating to permits supposed to make it unfeasible for Whistler Alpine Meadows to proceed. In a press release to Canadian Operating, Vail acknowledges the breakdown in communication on their finish however sticks to their line that the choice to cancel WAM was solely the selection of CMTR. “We weren’t keen to maneuver ahead with the 2023 race with out an sufficient security and medical plan, and WAM was unwilling to work with us on this,” they stated.
Robbins says Vail Resort’s new necessities had been unimaginable to satisfy. “The brand new permits included issues like a steep new working price, technical and security necessities utterly unrelated to a path working occasion, and a number of different objects that’d by no means been there earlier than,” he shares in his weblog.
Initially I feared Ironman would use UTMB to do to ultras what they did to triathlon w/ Kona. That is worse. I understand how a lot @gary_robbins put into WAM. I need to expertise UTMB however I’ll by no means run a UTMB race. No, they will not care about me. But when sufficient do not possibly they are going to. https://t.co/YgOH41u2fw
— John Kelly (@RndmForestRunnr) October 26, 2023
UTMB is adamant that they didn’t got down to compete with Robbins, and UTMB and Vail have each said that negotiations solely started as soon as Robbins made the general public announcement that he was cancelling WAM. UTMB Whistler race director Christine Cogger believes there’s house for a couple of occasion inside the neighborhood. “I feel Gary has performed a fantastic job. We didn’t get up trying to wreck the Canadian path working neighborhood,” she instructed Canadian Operating.
Paul Huddle, director of worldwide path working operations for UTMB, says the neighborhood response was stunning however not surprising. “I do know Gary could be very passionate and places on superb races. A race is your child, it’s lots of work,” Huddle stated. “His notion [is] that one in all his infants was stolen and placed on by any person else–I get that.”
Revered names within the path neighborhood, like former obstacle-racing champion Amelia Boone, have steered the state of affairs with UTMB ought to encourage a brand new path ahead within the sport. On X, Boone referred to as the talk “a broader dialog of what we wish for the game of path working.” She added: “If we don’t desire a UTMB/IM mannequin, then we have to change the motivation construction, which comes at sponsor degree.”
Robbins and CMTR aren’t taking the hit evenly, and have introduced a brand new race to be hosted on the identical weekend as UTMB Whistler, in September 2024. “I want to take the time now to say that we are formally asserting our intentions of launching a BC race in direct competitors with this occasion, in September 2024,” Robbins stated. His announcement has garnered the help of athletes on social media, and Dominic Gross and Andy Pearson, hosts of the ultrarunning comedy podcast Between Two Pines, have created a Go Fund Me, comically titled ‘Assist Gary Robbins Purchase UTMB.’
That is superb and hilarious.
Because of Dominic and Andy for bringing some effectively wanted levity to the state of affairs proper now.
The outpouring of help for me and my workforce these previous few days right here has been completely unbelievable!! 🙏 https://t.co/r9jqny6lbv
— Gary Robbins (@gary_robbins) October 28, 2023
UTMB responded to CMTR’s race announcement. “We wish all path races to succeed. For that race and all of Gary’s races, we wish them to achieve success,” they said.
Whereas it stays to be seen how September 2024 will unfold, the path neighborhood seems to be overwhelmingly unified of their help of CMTR and grassroots racing occasions. “I couldn’t be extra happy with our neighborhood proper now,” Greenwood commented on X. “We’ll battle to the tip for what we love, for what we have now labored so onerous for and for what we have now supported for therefore lengthy.”
“We’re overwhelmed by the response and the superb help from our neighborhood, each domestically and at massive,” Robbin’s spouse, Linda Barton-Robbins, shared with Canadian Operating. “Path runners, hey? They’re one thing else. It introduced tears to our eyes so many occasions yesterday. We’re simply so grateful.”
