The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) is an annual race taking place in Chamonix, France towards the end of August. There are 3 main races that you can qualify for, 50km (OCC), 100km (CCC) and 100 miles (UTMB). These events are extremely popular and considered as some of the most competitive ultra trail races in the world. They drew over 22,000 applicants in 2022 meaning that the events were in some cases 484% sold out. Qualification requires the completion of ultramarathons such as Ultra X events as well as UTMB’s world series events to gain running stones.
So how do you qualify for UTMB World Series?
1. You need to have a valid UTMB® index, this means you must have completed a race in the desired category. For example, to be able to enter the lottery for the UTMB 100M race you must have completed an event in the 100M category.
- You can achieve a valid index to enter into the 100M UTMB race by completing races within this category such as Western States Endurance Run.
- You can achieve a valid index to enter into the 100km CCC race by completing UTMB index races such as Ultra X 110 Azores.
- You can achieve a valid index to enter into the 50km OCC by completing Ultra X 50 Scotland for example.
2.You also need to have at least one running stone; running stones can be collected by completing a 20km, 50km, 100km or 100mile race that’s part of the UTMB world series circuit. One stone means one entry into the lottery, the more you do, the higher your chances of getting a place. You receive a different number of stones depending on the distance and race.
You can start your registration for the UTMB®, CCC®, OCC on the UTMB website and you can check out the Ultra X indexed races here.
