Looking back at the 2011 Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc

As in previous years there were huge numbers of competitors (2554) and huge crowds of well-wishers gathered to, um, wish them well. But the whole thing looked like it might not happen. Storm warnings, heavy rain and unseasonaly low temperatures threatened the start. Were we going to see a repeat of the 2010 event? Would it be cut short, or worse still cancelled?

Thankfully the race got underway, a little later than planned and with a slightly modified course, on Friday night. Conditions were still not favourable with heavy rain but the runners seemed in good spirits; focused but jovial. Once on course the true effects of the rain became more apparent and more threatening. In Les Contamines the downpour was far heavier than in Chamonix and once the runners began to climb the rain turned to sleet and even snow.

Thankfully Saturday morning dawned clear and bright and after a difficult night it looked like the athletes would have more reasonable conditions in which to complete the race.

Again though this was not going to be the same race we had seen in previous years, even the favourites struggled.

Lizzie Hawker, who has finished in either first or second place in her last three Chamonix Ultra Trails, looked like she might not finish. An injured hip had slowed her down and she took a long rest at La Fouly to find the strength to finish the last 70km.

"The UTMB is a special race for me. It's here that I discovered mountain racing in 2005. After all the editions, I have learned that on this type of event, you never know what the mountain, but also your body and your head have in store for you. You need to know how to prepare for this, to give everything you can to arrive at the end. This is what I did this year, when I had been in great difficulty because of my painful hip. I pulled together all my forces to be able to finish, with my courage and my passion for the mountains,"

Despite her injury Lizzie still came in first place in the Women's race and thirteenth over all!!

In the men's races everyone expected Spaniard Kilian Jornet to cruise across the finish line, hours ahead of his rivals looking like he'd just popped out for milk but this year's race was a much closer affair than we had seen before.

There was only nine minutes between Kilian and second place finisher Iker Karrera Aranburu and third place runner Sebastien Chaigneau was eleven minutes behind him. It had been Kilian's push in Martigny that had earned him the lead but on crossing the line he congratulated his countryman Iker, who was running in his first Chamonix Ultra Trail, saying that "The future belongs to him."

Whatever the future holds for next year's race it will have a lot to live up to after this year's mix of competition and camaraderie, heartache and determination.

So the results from the week look like this:

TDS

WOMEN

1) Jolanda LINSCHOOTEN (NL) - 20h57’32

2) Francesca CANEPA (IT) - 20h57’40

3) Nathalie LE FLANCHEC (FR) - 21h38’28

MEN

1) Franck BUSSIERE (FR) - 15h51’37

2) Lionel TRIVEL (FR) - 16h12’32

3) Sébastien TALOTTI (FR) - 16h20’54

CCC® - 93km – 5100m D+ (after modifications)

WOMEN

1) Virginie GOVIGNON (FR) – 12h47’11

2) Claire PRICE (GB) - 13h08’41

3) Catherine DUBOIS (FR) - 13h30’38

MEN

1) Emmanuel GAULT (FR) - 10h10’25

2) Adam CAMPBELL (CA) - 10h29’33

3) Nikolaos KALOFYRIS (GR) - 10h50’17

UTMB® - 170km – 9700m D+ (after the deviation par Martigny)

WOMEN

1) Elisabeth HAWKER (GB) - 25h02’00

2) Néré MARTINEZ URRUZOLA (ES) - 27h55’34

3) Darcy PICEU AFRICA (US) - 28h30’28

MEN

1- Kilian JORNET BURGADA (ES) - 20h36’43

2) Iker KARRERA ARANBURU (ES) - 20h45’30

3) Sébastien CHAIGNEAU (FR) - 20h55’4