UTMB 2023 Race Recap
Chamonix, Mont Blanc, France
106 miles (170km) and 33,,000 feet of vert (10000m)
The "Tour de France" of Ultra running: Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc. A week long festival of races. It’s where the best of the best ultra runners come at the end of the summer to showcase all the hard work of training in the mountains and endless vert racked up.
It was my first time in Chamonix after many years dating back to 2015 when I first started following the race from the States and through online media. This year was historical. UTMB was celebrating its 20th Anniversary. I always have wanted to make my way over the Atlantic to run the 100+ mile race and I finally got my qualifier (running stones) from Puerto Vallarta Mexico by UTMB 100M last October 2022.
The Journey to UTMB:
Fast forward to 2023, it was a very hard winter in Colorado with lots of snow running. I got hurt and rolled my ankle and then tried to run Bandera 100K in January trying to chase a Golden Ticket. I DNF’d there as I reinjured my ankle from the winter and then had to take time off to recover. After a couple months of recovery, the next race on my calendar I had planned was Ultra Trail Mt. Fuji in April. I was very unsure of racing UTMF, but I got it done and ended up first American and 18th overall. Sorry I never wrote a race report for this. Made a lot of new friends and enjoyed spending time with my Topo Teammate, Sho Gray while we were there.
With only four months to train, I needed every single week to get ready for UTMB. To be honest, I was not in a good mental head space or in good physical condition and I had just started a new job at Neptune Mountaineering. Recovery was awful. I developed ITB syndrome and was forced to take more time off as I was supposed to kick off training.
After a few more weeks of physical therapy and trying acupuncture and chiropractic treatments, my body finally took a positive turn. I was super thankful of the timing because I had so many pacing/crewing duties lined up. I ended up pacing my Japanese friends, Kimino Miyazaki at Hardrock 100 and then the following week, at Ouray 100 with Sarah Ostazewski and Hayato Nishikata and in August, the Leadville 100 for my teammate, Zac Marion. It was the perfect training kick in the butt I needed to really ramp up for a quick build towards UTMB.
UTMB Week
The week leading up to my race was super chaotic. The morning of my flight on Sunday, I got a text from my crew saying he lost his passport and couldn’t make his flight out. I was already on my way to the airport and had no way to help him. I immediately put out the call for help on social media. Thankfully, I still had five days to figure something out and as soon as I met my friends, Justin Snair and his family at the airport, my worries went away as we took off to Geneva,
After arriving in Geneva and thankfully retrieving all our bags we were on the move to Chamonix. We then checked into our airbnb where our friend, Dylan Tanner was waiting for us and we finally got situated after the long days travel.
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| Run with Justin. PC: Dyan Tanner |
With a few days before each of our races, Justin and I got to explore the local trails in our village of Argentiére with my friend and athlete I coach, Byron Yoder and his son, Braedyn. It was a really beautiful shakeout run and somehow we gained like 1500 feet of climbing in a short 6 miles.
I then got to hang out with Byron’s family and enjoyed walking around the Athlete Expo where I enjoyed networking with a few folks from Paago Works who are from Japan that had wanted to meet me after UTMF which was super nice. Since I didn’t know if I’d have crew our not, It was wonderful to get a bigger vest since I had brought a smaller one.
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| Meeting Atsuko-san and Tetsu-san of Paago Works |
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| Testing out Paago Works Rush 11L pack PC: Dylan Tanner |
I then got to see my good friends, Keisuke Minami and Hayato Nishkata and Mamba Hajime and found some crew for the race while having a lovely Japanese dinner a couple days before the race.
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| Dinner with Keisuke, Hayato, Ichiro, Mamba, Shunsuke |
UTMB
Having an Elite Bib has its perks. Being able to enter the starting coral from a designated spot really helps not having to fight through the 2500 people and we get prime spots up at the front of the race. At about 4pm, I made my way down from Argentiére to Chamonix to drop off my Courmayuer drop bag and then do my final preparations and entered the special corral about 15 minutes before the start of the race at 6pm
Then the UTMB anthem “Conquest of Paradise” begins playing and all the athletes joined together in a synchronized slow clap before the race start and I got chills. A life dream of starting this race was actually about to begin.
The race begins! We start out fast and I’m trying to not get trampled by the 2000 runners behind me. We begin running through Chamonix and out to Les Houches about 8km away at the first check point. It went by really fast and I couldn’t find my rhythm with the quick pace. My legs felt heavy already which was a worrisome sign.
From Les Houches, we got our first nice climb which was still overly crowded but at least my legs started to feel better and warmed up. I stuck with a bunch of US Men (Matt Daniels, Adrian Macdonald, Jeff Colt and Canyon Woodward and David Hedges). It was really pleasant to see all these guys and we worked our way up the mountain before a crazy steep descent off the mountain into Saint-Gervais at 21km. As I was descending, I was feeling hot spots on my heels and my toes slamming into the front of my shoes. I knew they’d coming off after the race but it was crazy to think I was only 13 miles into this 106 mile race and I was already dealing with these small issues. Thankfully, they never became problems and the toenails came off post race.
The crowds were electric and wild. Lining the trails and ringing big cowbells for a few miles before we were back in the forest and heading back up the mountain. From Saint-Gervais to Les Chapieux at 50km was pretty as I was fueling well and moving up the field at a reasonably comfortable pace. The only minor hiccup in this section was I literally face planted and tripped in the aid station on the little sidewalk as I was getting fuel. I scraped my kneecaps a bit but nothing major. The adrenaline and energy kept me moving swiftly. I saw Keisuke and he passed me some more gels and then it was off into the night until I’d see him at Courmayuer at 80km.
Les Champiex to Courmayuer was absolute bliss. I got to share miles with Courtney Dauwalter as we climbed up to Col del la Seigne and the Col Pyramides Cal. It was peaceful and we finally got out of the rowdy villages. We were blessed with a Super Moon and crisp weather overnight. It was truly spectacular being able to see the snow and the silhouette of the mountain in the dark as well as looking back and seeing the flood of headlights moving up the trail gave me goosebumps.
After descending into Italy and Courmayuer at 80km, I got my drop bag and met up with Keisuke. I was pretty stunned to see some friends having a tough time but I grabbed my fuel and refilled my bottles and got out of the aid as quickly as possible. This is probably where I could have taken more time to reset and fuel more because immediately after leaving, I got hit with the worst nausea and I had to climb up to Refuge Bertone. It was not a pretty climb as I started to throw up. Lots of folks started to catch me but I kept moving as best as I could. When I got to the aid, I sat and tried to drink soup and again settle my acidic stomach.
The trail then became flown and I was able to get going again before the next major climb up to the high point of the course at Grand Col Ferret around 100km. Basically, I was fighting nausea, throwing up and cramps the rest of the race.
My Japanese friend, Mamba Hajime who I have deep respect for caught me just as we were descending into La Fouly at 113km. I had a bad bonk and legs were cramping significantly on downhill. I let him go and hoped I’d maybe rally. After that, I somehow came across Tim Tollefson as his day went awry but he’d rally a bit and went on to finish.
Now done with Italy, I finally arrive in Switzerland and Champex-Lac and the last 55km and 13,000 feet of climbing of the race remain. 4 more mountains to climb and then I’d be done. When I arrived in Champe-Lac, I immediately threw up everything. My friends, Ichiro and Atsuko were trying to help me and texted Maria, my folks and Justin/Dylan about this not being fun and how crummy the situation was. After a minor pity party and eating some bland bread, I headed out to Trient, the first of the last four climbs.
I was in survival mode and shuffled as my legs continued to cramp and tried to stick with anyone that was passing me, but my legs had no fuel in them. I somehow made the 9 mile trek to Trient (143km) and kept drinking soda and bubbly water when it was available. Paago Works athlete, Alé helped me here. Leaving Trient, I was happy to see my friend, Ranyo and he gave me a boost in energy before the next climb and descent into Valloercine. All I knew was the hell awaiting for me in this next section. Justin had run OCC, the 55k race a few days earlier and he said how rough and awful that descent was for him so I knew it was going to be pretty rough going with my legs not cooperating. The trail was really technical. I say it was a combo of HURT 100 trails with all the roots and rocks but less runnable. Before I knew It, I finally exited the forest and was back in the small village of Vallorcine. Ranyo was again here to give me moral support and I ate some chocolate bread and salami before heading to La Flégère (166km), the last mountain to climb before the final 5 miles down to the finish line.
My legs finally started to get a third or maybe fourth rally in them and I shuffled with a few French guys up to Col Des Montets and the little false summit before La Flégère around 9pm. I was kinda annoyed in this section as the French guys just wouldn’t stop talking to each other. I tried to break away from them but ended up probably wasting a ton of energy charging up the mountain as they tried to keep pace with me on the technical terrain.
I made it to the aid with fellow American, Michael Nanaszko. He was moving better than me and took off on the last downhill. I made my way down as quickly as possible. Justin, Dylan, Byron and his family were all waiting for me at the finish line. The last 7km, I was counting down as the miles ticked by. Deep breathing and trying not to trip over the tiniest roots or rocks.
I could see the lights of Chamonix creeping through the trees and the could slowly hear the cheering on the streets. As soon I popped off the trail and back on the road for the last mile back into town, I was surprised to see a newly made friend, Bob from Thailand waiting for me. He and Alé ran with me back into town and where I’d finally sprinted across the finish line with a nice heel click.
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| With Byron and his family, Justin and Dylan after finishing. |
Elated. Grateful. Exhausted.
28:18 and 111th out of 1758 finishers.
Lots of lessons learned and already look forward to getting back to Chamonix in 2024.
Gear Used:
Shoes: Topo Athletic Men Racer 3
Vest: Paago Works RUSH 11L
Nutrition: Spring Energy Variety
Poles: LEKI Carbon Poles
Shirt: Topo Singlet
Shorts: Ultimate Direction Schlarb Shorts
Socks: Injinji Toe Socks
Compression Sleeves: Zensah
Watch: COROS Vertix 2
Headlamp: Petal IKO core and Kogalla
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| Gear Used |
Immense THANKS to my sponsors: Topo Athletic, Spring Energy, Injinji, ReNew Earth Running, PurePower CBD, Arc’teryx Colorado, Paago Works, Zensah and Sun God for all the amazing gear that made it possible for me to get around the mountain.
Thank you to my coach, David Roche for all the love, guidance and support in this training block. Thank you to my PT, Dr. Caitlin Alexander for getting me healthy to race. Lastly, thank you to all my friends that stepped up to crew or that I saw out on course giving me a boost, my family and especially Maria for all the love and support. I couldn’t do this with out you guys and were a driving force in picking up my spirits when I was at my lowest points on course and the only goal was to finish.
Much Love,
Anthony
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