All records broken as the UTMB® gears up for the 10th running

Regarded as the unofficial "world champs of ultra-trail running", The North Face UTMB® has done an excellent job of ensuring that, year upon year, the interest in this extraordinary event is not only maintained but exponentially increased. Is it the beautiful setting of the Mont Blanc massif that remains the allure for many runners? Or is it because most, if not all, of the worlds top athletes converge upon Chamonix in France to race each year?

What ever it is, the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc remains the most spoken about trail running event on the global trail running calendar and for this reason alone sees some amazing records being broken during the entry process which took part earlier this month.

Receiving a record 10 000 entry requests from a staggering 75 countries for the 2012 North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® events, here's a little insight into how the entry process in to the race has developed over the years since the race began.

FROM THE BEGINNING

From its first race in 2003, the UTMB ® has been amazingly successful with 700 runners registered, then 1600 in 2004. The exponential growth curve for the event has bewildered everybody. From 2005, participation in the UTMB ® has been limited to 2000 runners.

In 2006 the registrations were complete in the 3 weeks.

A system of qualifying races was established in 2007, to limit the number of runners, without resorting to a monetary or sporting-level selection, which would have been against the ethics. Nevertheless, the registrations were complete within less than 10 hours! In 2008 however an amazing feat was achieved with registration completed in just 8 minutes, and approximately 7000 requests for the UTMB ® and the CCC ®.

In 2009, to face this tidal wave and to find respectful solutions for the runners, the organisation proposed:

- The creation of a new race the TDS ® offering the possibility of participation in The North Face ® Ultra Trail of the Mont Blanc ® to 1200 runners

- The tightening of the system of qualifying races.

- A principle of pre-registration followed by a possible draw in the case of exceeding the limited number of places.

From 2010, the number of requests went up again (7 000) for all the 4 races, it was necessary for the first year to resort to the drawing of names! In spite of the increase of the requirements in terms of qualifying races (5 points instead of 4 for the UTMB ®), there was still an increase in 2011 with 7200 requests...

Some of the international names who will be toeing the line come 31 August 2012 include:

Dave Mackey (USA)
Krissy Moehl (USA)
Patrick Bohard (France)
Jez Bragg (UK)
Sebastien Chaigneau (France)
Julien Chorier (France)
Matthias Dippacher (Germany)
François Faibre (France)
Lizzy Hawker (Switzerland/UK) Pictured left winning the 2011 UTMB for a 4th time

Stu Gibson (Australia)
Miguel Heras (Spain)
Hiroki Ishikawa (Japan)
Andrew James (UK)
Ellie Greenwood (Canada/UK)
Nerea Martinez (Spain)
Ruling Xing (China)
Csaba Nemeth (Hungary)
Marco Olmo (Italy)
Gary Robbins (Canada)
Iker Karrera (Spain) Pictured left with fellow Salomon team member Kilian Jornet


For more information on who's in and who's not in, head to the online results by clicking here.

For more details on The North Face ® Ultra Trail of the Mont Blanc ®, head to www.ultratrailmb.com