Kilian Jornet crossed the Chamonix finish line today in first place on the Mont-Blanc Ultra Trail, after investing 19 hours and 49 minutes to complete a 171-kilometre race with 10,000 meters of positive elevation gain. With this time he has achieved a record, because no one so far had managed to get below 20 hours. This is his fourth victory in the ultramarathon around the Mont-Blanc massif.
Jornet doubted until the last moment whether he would participate in the race, since just a week ago he tested positive for covid, although he has stated that he barely had symptoms of the disease before the start.
The American Jim Walmsley has led more than half of the test and Kilian was not at 100%; his legs weren't responding the way he wanted them to. “I knew that I had to go below my threshold, it was about holding on at a sustained pace, but there was a moment when I thought about giving up, at Champex-Lac (at kilometer 126)”, he commented upon arriving at goal. At some points along the way, he has expressed to members of his team that he did not feel well.
But Walmsley has been losing steam and positions and the Frenchman Mathieu Blanchard and Jornet have taken the opportunity to take the lead. The two have practically run together during the last kilometers until Jornet has taken the first position until the end.
Blanchard reached the finish line in Chamonix almost six minutes later than the athlete from Cerdanya based in Norway. Chamonix is a party, with thousands of people cheering the runners and filling the coffers of local establishments.
The bad news is the abandonment of the also Catalan Pau Capell, who was precisely the one who, in 2020, set himself the challenge of getting below 20 hours. Until now, Capell held the UTMB record, 20h19m, achieved in 2019, which Jornet and Blanchard have improved today.
The British Thomas Evans (20h34m35s) finished in third position and Walmsley (21h12m12s) in fourth. A few months ago, the American had moved to live in the Alps to prepare for this race, in which a US runner has never won, although two women have, Rory Bosio and Courtney Dauwalter.
