Four Things to Watch For at UTMB World Series Finals This Week
Endurance sports world championship season is here! The 2026 UTMB World Series Finals is upon us, with over 10,000 athletes taking part in the eight various races across the week. The races culminate with the three championship events: the 50 kilometer OCC, the 100 kilometer CCC, and the original, iconic, 100 mile championship UTMB. The forecast all week looks mostly dry, with some high clouds and showers possible in the mountain peaks, particularly as we get into the action on Friday. But temperatures are not expected to soar to the heights that one might expect given the heat dome most of Europe has experienced for most of the summer season.
Here are some things that we’re watching for this weekend.
The Men’s UTMB Field is Wide Open
It might be longer to list who isn’t racing this weekend versus who is. Four-time champion Kilian Jornet is out with a lingering knee issue that will now require surgery. Top-ranked runner in the standings Jim Walmsley has also withdrawn, citing a one-two punch of an ongoing knee issue and a recent stomach bug that has derailed his build. There will also be no defending champion, as Tom Evans has opted not to defend.
That leaves Vincent Bouillard as the top men’s name in the field. The 2024 UTMB champion pulled off a win at Western States a couple of months back. That could either be a signal that he’s in fine form, or that’s he’s screwed; there’s only been one man who has ever pulled off a double Western States and UTMB victory in the same year, and that’s Jornet back in 2011. He could win. He could also wind up pulling off course. Anything is in play.
There’s also last year’s runner-up, Ben Dhiman. Dhiman was the only other man to break the 20 hour barrier last time out here, but he was also nearly a full 33 minutes behind Evans at the finish line. That said, he claimed to have raced Marathon du Mont-Blanc back in June untapered, and narrowly missed out on the win, trailing Louison Coiffet by just 40 seconds after 88.8 kilometers of racing.
Other names to watch out for include former OCC and CCC champion Jon Albon, last year’s third place finisher Josh Wade, multi-time top ten UTMB finisher Hannes Namberger, and former Western States runner-up Rod Harvard.
Is the Women’s Race a Two Woman Show?
The shock news this week is that defending champion Ruth Croft will not toe the starting line, stating on Instagram that, “While I felt my fitness has never been so good thanks to another year being supported by the best team of people, today my heart and mind want to be elsewhere.”
That, in theory, means that this should be a duel between Courtney Dauwalter and Rachel Entrekin. Dauwalter, the three-time champion, catastrophically imploded over the last 30 miles last year, falling from first to tenth. But she also beat out Entrekin in March at Chianti Ultra-Trail 120K and, perhaps crucially, there doesn’t appear to be the kind of inclement weather in the forecast that has been her nemesis. Entrekin, meanwhile, defeated Dauwalter at Cocodona 250.
Other names to watch that should be near the front of the race: near guaranteed top-10 finisher Lucy Bartholomew, Riley Brady, Abby Hall, and Blandine L’Hirondel.
For your viewing pleasure: some of the highlights from last year’s event.
Will Expanded Drug Testing Make a Difference?
UTMB made a big splash last week, announcing that it would be more than doubling its anti-doping efforts at this year’s event. For the first time, they also announced that non-elite athletes would be subject to random testing controls. Mandatory testing remains in place for podium finishers. The UTMB anti-doping program is managed by the International Testing Agency, who also administers IRONMAN’s program.
The move comes after a few high-profile cases in our sport. On the purely elite side, there’s last year’s OCC champion women’s champion Joyline Chepngeno, who was recently banned for two years following a positive in-competition test. And, of course, there’s been the recent news regarding the use of peptides amongst the ultra-running field.
The Triathlon Connection
There’s a fair number of names within the triathlon world who are taking to the trails this weekend. Of course, the IRONMAN Group itself is a minority stakeholder in UTMB, helping grow the World Series into what it is today. IRONMAN Group Chief Executive Officer Scott DeRue is in Chamonix this week.
In the OCC race, you’ll find Beth McKenzie ranked quite highly. She took second at Ultra-Trail Australia’s 101 kilometer race back in May. Last year she finished in 34th place in the CCC event. Also in the OCC race is former IRONMAN world champion Jan Frodeno. He took up trail running somewhat seriously last year, and has impressed, finishing in the top 20 overall in his qualifying event last fall in Nice. Former Slowtwitch editor Herbert Krabel’s also running the OCC.
How to Watch
All of the racing can be found over at UTMB’s Live Hub, which offers live streaming, timing updates, and more.
The big three marquee races start on Thursday, August 27th. The OCC will kick things off at 08:15 AM local time, with runners receiving a maximum 14 hours and 30 minutes to cover all 60 kilometers (yes, it’s the 50 kilometer championship race, but it’s long). On Friday morning, the CCC takes flight at 09:00 AM local time, with a total of 26 hours and 30 minutes on the clock for athletes on their 101 kilometer journey. And then on Friday evening, UTMB has its mass start at 5:45 PM local time, with nearly two full days of time offered for athletes to race the 174 kilometer course.
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