Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc swamped by record number of registrations

Over 10, 000 people apply for UTMB races

It seems that the gruelling sport of extreme trail running is growing ever more popular as the organisers of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc announced this week that they had received the highest ever number of applicants for one of the world's toughest races.

5100 people are apparently crazy enough to want to compete in the 166km cross country race that circumnavigates the foot of Mont Blanc, passing through France, Italy and Switzerland along the way. Unfortunately there are only 2300 places up for grabs, with 860 of them being automatically allocated to people who were unable to get a place in last year's race.

The CCC proved just as in demand with 3600 people applying for a maximum of 1900 places in a demanding course that starts in Courmayeur (Italy), passes through Champex (Switzerland) and finishes in Chamonix (France), covering 98km and climbing 5500m.

Places in both races are given on a lottery basis - all applicants must register in advance and then race numbers are allocated at random with priority being given to those who missed out on a place last year. This year over 10, 000 people applied in total for the 4 races that make up the UTMB; the Ultra, the CCC, the Traces des Ducs de Savoie and the Petite Trotte a Léon.

The UTMB weekend is one of the biggest summer events in Chamonix and has got bigger and better year after year with people travelling from all over the world to take part. Congratulations and good luck to all those who got places; all those who didn't can breathe a sigh of relief and join us in August for some enthusiastic cheering from the comfort of the bar.