Video summary
The 2026 UTMB race marked a historic shift in trail running history, with three men finishing under 19 hours and Blandine L'Hirondel becoming the first woman to break the 22-hour barrier. These times were significantly faster than the previous year's records, yet they come with an important asterisk: the course was slightly shortened by removing a technical rocky section near La Combe Bal, and the start time was delayed from early morning to evening to avoid thunderstorms over Mont Blanc. While these logistical changes technically disqualify the results as official world records, the narrator argues that the genuine performance gains are undeniable. Even if the removed section were added back, the elite runners' times would still have been well under previous benchmarks, proving that a real hour of speed was gained through factors beyond just course manipulation.
Several key developments converged to create this unprecedented pace, starting with advanced equipment and highly specific training regimens. Modern footwear offers superior cushioning and carbon plates, while lighter, breathable fabrics for clothing and gear reduce overall weight. More importantly, elite athletes are now training exclusively for the unique demands of UTMB, including its steep climbs, descents, altitude changes, and night sections, rather than treating it as a generic 100-mile event. Perhaps the most transformative factor is fueling strategy; runners have moved past simply preventing gastrointestinal distress to actively consuming over 100 grams of carbohydrates per hour. This allows them to maintain their peak pace deep into the race without hitting the "bonk" or slowing down significantly in the second half, enabling feats like Caleb Olson's blistering final descent on an empty tank.
The speed of the 2026 race was also driven by a rising tide of talent and favorable weather conditions that created a perfect storm for record-breaking performances. Despite the absence of major stars like Jim Walmsley and Kilian Jornet, the depth of the field ensured that even lower-ranked runners were capable of sub-19 finishes, pushing the entire pack forward. Ben Daemon's victory was particularly notable as he ran a time trial from the 40-kilometer mark, benefiting from clear skies and moonlight after the storm delay, whereas last year's winners struggled through severe weather. Similarly, Blandine L'Hirondel dominated the women's race despite falling on the final descent, finishing in a time that was still fifteen minutes faster than the previous best.
Ultimately, the 2026 UTMB represents a seismic shift in the sport rather than a one-off anomaly. While future races may see times fluctuate based on weather and course length, the underlying drivers of speed—advanced technology, specialized training, optimized fueling, and a deeper pool of elite talent—are permanent improvements that will not disappear. The gap between last year's winning time and this year's results highlights how quickly the sport is evolving, making the dominant performance of Tom Evans in 2025 seem like a footnote in comparison to the current era. As trail running continues to grow in popularity and scientific understanding improves, it is expected that sub-19 hours will become the new standard for elite athletes, even if extreme weather occasionally causes times to bounce around.
Read the full video transcript
Today, we're looking at why exactly the
2026 UTMB race was the fastest ever
across the board. And it might not be
the reason that you think it is.
Last year, I was stood at the finish
line of UTMB in Chamonix, watching and
filming Tom Evans come in to win in 19
hours and 18 minutes. It was one of the
most satisfying 100-mile victories I'd
ever witnessed. And I spent most of last
year editing a documentary about it,
which you can of course see right here.
12 months on at the same finish line,
having run exactly the same course, Ben
Daemon finishes in 18 hours and 16
minutes. Tom Evans' time from 2025
would only have got him seventh place at
this year's race. As it was, three men
finished under 19 hours this year, and
one of them only just over 19 hours by a
few seconds. No one had ever done it
before. And in the women's race,
Blandine L'Hirondel finished under 22
hours, the first woman ever to do so.
So, did the race just magically get an
hour quicker for everyone this year, or
is something else going on? Well, there
is a bit of an asterisk by the side of
this year's race.
So, a quick recap for anyone who missed
the weekend. Ben Daemon won in 18 hours,
16 minutes, and 29 seconds. He went into
the lead before 40 km, before midnight.
He led at every single checkpoint from
there until the end in Chamonix. He fell
hard with 10 K to go and still won by 31
minutes. Behind him, one of the closest
podium finishes the race has ever seen.
Baptiste Chassagne, 18 hours, 47
minutes, and 38 seconds, followed by
Caleb Olson, 18 hours, 48 minutes, and
24 seconds. 46 seconds back after 19
hours of running. Olson was in eighth
place in Courmayeur at halfway. He ran
the last descent into Chamonix 5 and 1/2
minutes faster than Chassagne. He just
ran out of road. And in fourth place was
Virgil Morisset in 19 hours and 23
seconds. Just 23 seconds above a sub-19
finish. But even that time is faster
than the 2017
time set by François D'Haene, which was
19 hours and 1 minute. And until this
last weekend, it was the fastest time
that anyone had ever run UTMB in. And
the entire top 10 of this year's UTMB
were under 20 hours.
In the women's race, Blandine
L'Hirondelle finished in 21:54:49.
The first woman to go under 22 hours.
And Rachel Drake in in her debut UTMB
came in second in 22 hours, 15 minutes.
And Emily Schmit came in third just 94
seconds behind her. But now, the
asterisk. On the morning of the race
with thunderstorms forecast over the
Mont Blanc massif, the organizers of
UTMB did two things. First, they moved
the start time from quarter to 6:00 in
the evening to quarter to 8:00. And then
they also removed the rocky technical
pyramid section, which is just before
you get down to La Combe Bal. So with
that section cut, the race is slightly
shorter. And it doesn't have quite as
much elevation gain, and it isn't quite
as technical overall. And that's why
none of the times in the 2026 edition of
UTMB can count officially as records.
And that's all fair enough until you
remember that the same exact situation
happened last year. Tom Evans 19 hours
and 18 minutes was run on the same
course with the same pyramid section cut
out. Ben Deakin came second that year.
This year, he ran 95 minutes quicker.
Even if you add the pyramid section back
in, which is probably worth maybe 20
minutes, 25 minutes to the leaders.
That still means that Ben's time from
this year would would still be way under
19 hours. So yes, the record books do
need a footnote. There is an asterisk
beside this year's race.
But that doesn't change the fact that
that hour is real. That time that was
gained this year from last year is real
time. So where did it come from? So I
think there are probably about five
different reasons why this year's UTMB
race was so much faster. Firstly, kit.
Let's get this one out of the way early.
From the bottom up, shoes. Shoes are
more cushioned now than they have ever
been. Some of the stack heights are
absolutely crazy. And we've had carbon
plates in trail running shoes for a
number of years now. Shorts, vests,
underwear, rain jackets, all made of
much lighter, breathable material.
Backpacks, again, lighter, more fitted,
better materials. Head torches are
brighter. Poles are stronger. All that
kit is there to help you shave off just
those vital few seconds. I guess it's
important, but it's not the major reason
why this year's race was so much faster.
Next is specificity. Elite runners at
the front end of the pack are not just
training for any old 100-miler.
They are training for this specific
100-miler. Ben Daemon lives in the
Pyrenees. He's from the USA, but he's
come to Europe to train on the kind of
terrain that you get at UTMB. Jim
Walmsley moved to France specifically to
train for UTMB. Tom Evans spent 3 months
in the Chamonix Valley before his win at
UTMB last year. Emily Schmit lives in
the Chamonix Valley. She came third this
year. Runners are training specifically
for each section of the UTMB course, the
climbs, the descent, the altitude, the
night sections. 20 years ago, a handful
of runners would have done that. Now,
the entire top 20 of the elite field
will be training specifically for UTMB
itself. Next is fueling, and this really
is getting to the nub of it now. This is
the thing that has changed the most at
elite-level trail running in the last
few years, certainly since I've been
coming to Chamonix.
The questions used to be, "How can I
stop my stomach from turning? How can I
stop throwing up? How can I prevent the
bonk 70 miles into the 100-mile race?"
It's different now. Now, the front end
of the pack are training their guts to
take on far more carbohydrates than they
ever used to before, well over 100 g an
hour sometimes of carbs. And the effect
of that isn't that they run faster
earlier on, it's that they don't fall
apart at 14, 15 hours into a race, 100
km, 140 km into the race. They are still
running at the same pace that they were
at the beginning of the race. There's
virtually no slowdown. In fact, Caleb
Olson ran that last descent into
Chamonix, that's around 6-7 km, in 29
minutes. You cannot do that on an empty
tank. So, fueling, I think, is one of
the major modern reasons why runners
these days are able to keep up that pace
in the second half of a race and fly
down that last descent into Chamonix as
though they hadn't been running for more
than an hour. Next is the depth of
field. It's a tide that's been rising
for a number of years, and this race was
where it showed. 19 hours for fourth
place. The top six runners all beat last
year's winning time. Shasne said that
his goal for the race was to break 20
hours. He broke it by 70 minutes. And
this is a race without Jim Walmsley,
without Kilian Jornet, and without last
year's champion Tom Evans. Vincent
Bouliard didn't make the finish line.
Ruth Croft didn't even make the start
line, and Courtney Dauwalter dropped out
as well. Top runners who didn't even
either make the race or the finish line.
Take out the five biggest names in the
sport, and it still went an hour faster.
If unknown runners, runners you've
hardly ever heard of, are suddenly doing
sub-19,
the whole floor has moved up. But a
rising floor of talent doesn't give you
an 18-hour 16-minute finish. That needed
one more thing. And that final thing is
one man who got it super right on a
perfect night. Remember, Ben Daemon ran
from the front from 40K onwards. There
was nobody pushing him. That depth of
field was half an hour back. He was
pushing himself. This was a time trial
and one runner making a step from second
place last year to somewhere no one else
has ever been. And that two-hour delay
to the start to let the thunderstorms
pass was a gift to Ben because by the
time they reached Lac Combal, yes, it
was cold and it was windy, but it was
clear skies, a moonlit night. What would
you give for a moonlit night over last
year when Ben and Tom at the front were
struggling through some of the worst
weather that UTMB had ever seen. The
weather definitely played a part, but
take nothing away from Ben. Everyone
else was quick this year, but Ben was
even quicker. One man on a good night
made the difference. And let's not take
anything away from Blandine, too, with
her women's time. Remember, the men's
time had been coming down. François
D'Haene got 19:01 in 2017,
so sub-19 was there for the taking.
Katie Schide ran 22:09
in 2024, and that was on the full
course. So, again, 22 hours was there
for the taking for the women, but
Blandine knocked 15 minutes off Katie
Schide's time. And let's look at how her
race panned out. She was in control of
the race, let's say, by Les Chapieux, 50
or so kilometers into the race. Then she
took the lead. She was ahead of Rachel
Drake and by halfway. But look at her
movement through the men's pack, the
overall field throughout the race. She
was 80th
at Les Contamines, 60th at Col de la
Serenne. She was 41st at Arnuva, then
29th at Champex, and 24th at Vallorcine.
She was running through the men's field
for 18 hours. She even fell on her face
in the last descent and walked the hill
down to Chamonix and still finished in
26th position overall. She had a
40-minute lead at Vallorcine and lost
half of it limping down the hill. If
she'd run that cleanly, she could have
been well under 21 hours 40 minutes.
Everything I've said about the men's
race depth, fueling specificity, it all
applies to the women and they are, let's
say, a couple of years behind in depth.
There's more to come from the women. So,
was this a one-off or should we expect
sub-19 as the standard now for elite
athletes at UTMB?
2026 was a perfect storm without a
storm. It was a cool night. It was a
shortened course, and it was a
favorite-free field, meaning people had
nothing to lose. And one man had the
race of his life. You don't get all four
of those things happening every year.
But none of those underlying reasons are
going away. The depth of the field, the
popularity of trail running, more and
more people and more and more really
good runners are becoming trail runners.
The fueling advances, the science around
fueling, that's not going away anytime
soon. And the specificity of training,
people are learning how to train for
specific races. What you might get is
the full course next year on a really
wet, cold, and horrible night. And then,
yes, you might see another 1930. The
times are going to bounce around. But
there's no denying it. There is a
seismic shift that means times are
getting faster.
Last year, Tom Evans ran one of the most
dominating, exciting, commanding UTMB
races ever witnessed.
This year, that's almost a footnote.
That's how fast the sport is moving.
If you'd like to see my Tom Evans
documentary, please do click there. It's
really good. I hope you'll really enjoy
it. If you have any thoughts on what it
was that made this year so fast, please
do leave them in the comments down
below, and I will see you guys on the
start line next time.