The 20 Year History of UTMB

Welcome to Day 2 of Good Morning, Mont Blanc. This is the inaugural year of Freetrail’s daily morning show, kicking off with the 20th anniversary of the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB), the most important global event in the sport of trail running. The show is hosted each day by professional athlete, Dylan Bowman.   Dylan is joined on Day 2 by three incredible individuals: Topher Gaylord, Keith Byrne and Doug Meyer. Topher was instrumental in founding the UTMB and has been around since the very beginning. Today, he is still the highest placing American male in the UTMB, placing 2nd in 2003. Keith has been at UTMB since 2004 where he has held many roles at the race including, most recently, leading the race commentary. Doug Meyer wrote the book, The Race That Changed Running: The Inside Story of UTMB, and has been privy to many of the important stories behind this race over the years.   They discuss how Topher helped identify and join the UTMB as the founding sponsor when he was leading The North Face in Europe in the early 2000s and why he knew it was going to become one of the best races in the world.   Keith has a longstanding relationship with Catherine and Michael Poletti and pulls the curtain back on their dynamic. UTMB has been a passion project for the Polettis and, as Keith says, they have always focused on their values and what they believe is the spirit of trail running. The team discusses some of the disagreements and controversies that have grown from the race and how things need to shift to keep up with the developing sport and world.   Topher and Keith also discuss what it was like being part of The North Face family in the early days of race sponsorship. The race connected and created bonds with their work family that endure today. Watch on for more and make sure you subscribe to the Freetrail YouTube channel! If you like listening to the Freetrail Podcast, please leave us a review wherever you enjoy listening.    Freetrail Fantasy Make sure you play Freetrail Fantasy and pick 10 deep for both men and women for each participating race (OCC, CCC and UTMB). Go get your picks in. Make sure to stay tuned for the rest of the Good Morning, Mont Blanc shows this week where we will be doing race previews for all three races, and interviews with top contenders.    Fantasy Prizes We have amazing prizes for Freetrail Fantasy this week. 10 winners will receive head to toe Hoka kits including footwear, a CamelBak Zephyr pack, Ketone shots from HVMN, and Freetrail swag. Please note: We do our best to ship prize packages outside the US, but cannot guarantee it due to shipping costs and logistics.   Our Sponsors Thanks to our sponsors who are making this show possible, Hoka and CamelBak.    Hoka and UTMB were born in the Alps - fueled by the thrill of flying up and down mountains.   Trail running is in Hoka's DNA, and they are proud to be the 2023 UTMB World Series Premier Partner and help share the sport with as many people as possible   Check out Hoka's AR experience and join athletes like Jim Walmsley for a run in the alps.    CamelBak invented the hydration pack category a couple decades ago and has remained on the forefront of innovation for this very important product sector. Outside of footwear, the pack is the most critical piece of running gear and you’ll see a bunch of people trusting CamelBak throughout race week out on the trails around the Mont Blanc.   If you’re here in Chamonix, there is a public event hosted by CamelBak on Thursday from 6-8pm at Folie Douce Hotel in Chamonix – there will be a panel discussion, followed by an open bar/mixer. They will also be previewing some of their 2024 products in the space. Again it’s open to the public so feel free to stop by on Thursday, the Freetrail team will be there. If you can’t make it, they have a booth at the expo, so stop by and check it all out.