In parallel of this international event which is the UTMB®, let us inform you about the huge week our ITRA team will have, where the attendance of many top runners, worldwide organizations and international journalists will be the perfect opportunity to encourage discussions and develop our activity. Below, a presentation of an exceptional upcoming week
The press conference will be held on Friday 1st September, from 12:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Majestic media center.
Two mains topics will be discussed :
- During the first part of this conference, ITRA's in partnership with Penyagolosa Trails, will be honored to introduce the specificities of the race selected for the next 2018 Trail World Championship which will take place near Castellón, Spain.
- During the second part of this conference, we will be happy to introduce you to the new updates of QUARTZ health program.
This program have increase further thanks to the support of a lot of brands (Columbia, Compressport, Hoka One One, Salomon, The North Face) involved into athletes' health care and trail running development. As health is everyone's concern and not aimed at top athletes only, action are undertaken among runners (through their ITRA's health space) in order to raise awarness concerning this particularly demanding sport. Other action actions are also implemented in different events such as the Ultra-Trail® World tour races.
This year, more than 8000 runners and 50 000 visitors are awaited at the Salon Ultra-Trail®, which will be held in Chamonix during the week of the UTMB® event.
Under the sign of conviviality and sporting ethic, it's the internationnal meeting during which will be gathered all the actors of our sport during 4 days. The famous wooden exhibition booth and the various areas dedicated to brands, race's organisers are not to be missed ! You'll also be able to meet some race's organiser from all over the world, and member of the ITRA such as Azores Trail Run® , EcoTrail® Event, Madeira Island Ultra-Trail® or the Restonica Trail. Do not hesitate to meet them ! You will possibly have the chance to meet top athletes while walking around Chamonix... and we'll also be walking around !
Concerning the races, this week looks particularly challenging for every runners ! Finishing the race and being able to feel the unique atmosphere of an arrival in Chamonix will be the same shared dream for every runners .
The week will start on Monday 28th of August at 9.00am, with the departure of the PTL®, an adventure of 290km for 26500m of elevation...
Do not miss the start, a very big surprise awaits !
For the 171k and 10 000m of elevation gain and loss of the UTMB®, the best runners with the highest ITRA's performance index are represented. With among others the participation of Jim Walmsley, Xavier Thévenard, Caroline Chaverot , Nuria Picas, François D'Haene and last but not least, Kilian Jornet, the race promises to be particularly exciting.
Concerning the other races, 5 ITRA point awaits the finisher of the CCC® and 6 ITRA point will be granted for the TDS®.
A very competitive field of runners will take part into these races, and the victory will be played among runners with an ITRA performance index over 750 for the women and 850 for the men !
Not to be outdone, the OCC® will also be very challenging. Notably with the participation of Marc Lauenstein, Thibaut Baronian and Mohamed El Morabity, the contenders for the victory are not lacking in the men category.
For the women, it's going to be a tight race bewteen the silver medalist of the last World Trail Championship, Amandine Ferrato, the experienced American runner Stevie Kremer and the young Norwegian gun, Yngvild Kaspersen.
And not to forget the next generation of runners ! With the YCC®, the YRUN® and all the Mini-Utmb® races for kids, the futur trail runners will also have the possibility to show what they are capable of !
Good luck to all the runners !
The world's trail running film festival will also take place the 29th of August in Chamonix !
The Trails In Motion™ Film Festival is an annual international film tour that brings a collection of the finest trail and ultra running films to passionate audiences around the world. For the first time that this festival will be introduced during the UTMB® week. Join like-minded trail runners and adventure sports enthusiasts at film festival-styled events in almost 30 countries as they come together to celebrate the culture and the community of the sport, all hosted by people who love to share this "dirty art" with their local running communities.
The screening will be held at the Salle Du Bicentenaire, 7pm for a duration of 2.5 hours. The presentation will be offered by the Ultra-Trail® Harricana of Canada, in collaboration with ITRA.
Movies will be in English with subtitle in French.
More about the presented films here : www.trailsinmotion.com.
Free admission but registration is necessary on the Eventbrite's event website :
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/projectionscreening-trails-in-motion-at-utmb-tickets-36873189703a