UTMB 2025 | D4T | Pre-Race Pulse

Where Data meets the Trail.

Aug 26, 2025

UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc) is considered the pinnacle event in trail running and the ultimate showdown for elites. First held in 2003, the race has grown from a small gathering of mountain enthusiasts to the world's most prestigious trail ultramarathon, attracting thousands of runners annually.

The race follows most of the iconic Tour du Mont Blanc trail — a 174-kilometer (108 miles) loop covering 9,900 meters (32,480 feet) of elevation gain across three countries — France, Italy, and Switzerland. Starting from Chamonix at 5:45 p.m. CEST on Friday, August 29, 2025, runners have until Sunday afternoon to complete the circuit.

UTMB has evolved from a single race to the week-long UTMB Mont Blanc festival, featuring eight adult races and becoming the biggest trail running celebration on the calendar. What began as a grassroots adventure has transformed into a highly regulated event with qualification requirements and international broadcasting, while maintaining its spirit of mountain adventure.

The event is organized by the UTMB Group, which has expanded the brand globally while stewarding the original course around the Mont Blanc Massif. Entry requires completion of designated qualifying races, and the field is capped to preserve the mountain environment and ensure runner safety.

The course presents extreme challenges with temperature variations from freezing to scorching heat, technical Alpine terrain, and unpredictable weather. These elements have produced legendary performances and continue to test the world's best ultrarunners each year.

Historical Race Stats and 2025 Preview

Women’s Race

On the women's side, looking at former winners makes the USA dominance very clear, with 10 wins in 21 editions. Looking ahead to the coming years, both Courtney DAUWALTER and Katie SCHIDE appear capable of threatening the dominance of Lizzy HAWKER. We need to go back to 2018, with the win by Italian Francesca CANEPA, to find when someone other than the above-mentioned American athletes finished the big loop of Mont Blanc in front.

Any new contenders will need to face three-time winner Courtney DAUWALTER (USA), who returns to Chamonix after taking 2024 off, looking to reclaim the course record set by Katie SCHIDE.

With SCHIDE concentrating to Hardrock 100 and Sierre-Zinal in the first part of the season, and on the upcoming World Championships at the end of September, Ruth CROFT (New Zealand) appears to be the main contender for Courtney DAUWALTER, after her brilliant second-place finish in 2024.

No other multiple-podium women - who are shown in the table above - will be part of the race starting on Friday. Extending the look to athletes on the podium "only" once, we need to mention the German - living in Switzerland - Katharina HARTMUTH (seeking to improve on her 2023 runner-up finish) and the Frenchwoman Camille BRUYAS, who was second in 2021, and Maite MAIORA (Spain) who has a third place in 2019.

Looking at the athletes with at least 3 finishes in the top 10 - starting in 2025 we also have Emily HAWGOOD (Zimbabwe/USA) who was 6th in 2024, 6th in 2022 and 10th in 2021.

Other top contenders include:

Abby HALL (USA)
Lin CHEN (China)
Claudia TREMPS (Spain)
Lucy BARTHOLOMEW (Australia)
Alyssa CLARK (USA)
Heather JACKSON (USA)
Ekaterina MITYAEVA (Neutral)
Katarzyna DOMBROWSKA (Poland)

In regards to the current course record time, 22h 09' 31" set by Katie SCHIDE last year, the impression is that only Courtney DAUWALTER at her best could improve it.

Looking at the average finishing times, it seems realistic to see a further improvement in the level of the faster part of the field. Taking as a reference the 10th and 20th place women's finishing times of the last three years (respectively 25:55:31 and 28:07:06 in 2024, 27:39:23 and 29:38:23 in 2023, 28:15:29 and 31:24:09 in 2022), it seems reasonable to forecast a further improvement of these times, even by a smaller margin compared to last year.

Men’s Race

Contrary to what we've seen in the women's race, the men's competition has often been a European affair. Former champions Ludovic POMMERET and François D'HAENE are back at the start this year. At 50 years of age, the former appears to be in the best shape of his career (!), while the latter is eager to prove he can still perform at the same level as during his last victory in 2021.

Looking at the historical ranking of multiple-podium finishers, we can spot another athlete set to start on Friday: Tim TOLLEFSON, who has announced that 2025 will be his final attempt at the big loop around the Mont Blanc massif.

Turning to the ranking of Top-10 men’s finishers, a surprising name appears (at least for those new to following UTMB). The athlete with the most Top-10 finishes is the Hungarian Csaba NEMETH. Despite never winning - and therefore not being listed among the UTMB Legends1 - he has secured a place in the Top 10 no fewer than six times.

On the men's side, the field feels very open. Beyond the aforementioned former champions POMMERET and D’HAENE, a number of athletes can be considered strong contenders for the top spot at the finish line in Place du Triangle de l'Amitié. Among them, we note:

Jonathan ALBON (United Kingdom)
François D'HAENE (France)
Tom EVANS (United Kingdom)
Hayden HAWKS (USA)
Germain GRANGIER (France)
Ludovic POMMERET (France)
Ben DHIMAN (USA)
Aurélien DUNAND-PALLAZ (France)
Jean-Philippe TSCHUMI (Switzerland)
Dan JONES (New Zealand)
Jia-Sheng SHEN (China)
Jeff MOGAVERO (USA)
Dakota JONES (USA)
Rod FARVARD (USA)
Pablo VILLA (Spain)
Thibaut GARRIVIER (France)
Ji DUO (China)
Yannick NOËL (France)
Jonas RUSSI (Switzerland)
Cody LIND (USA)
Dmitry MITYAEV (Neutral/Russia)

Even without Jim WALMSLEY (current course record holder with 19:49:30) and Kilian JORNET, the course record could still be under serious threat. Sub-20-hour finishing times are becoming increasingly common for athletes aiming for the podium. If the race unfolds in a certain way, the 2025 field has everything it takes to push the time below the standing record.

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