Mike Wolfe, 2010 UTMB 2nd Place & Top American, Interviewed
September 3, 2010 by Bryon Powell · 13 Comments
We caught up with American Mike Wolfe in Chamonix shortly after his second place finish at the 2010 Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc. In the interview, Mike discusses what it feels like to place well at the “restart” UTMB. He also gives a full blow-by-blow on his experience in the first attempt at UTMB ’10, his Friday evening after the cancellation, including a 3 hour hike, and his run at the second UTMB. Mike also talks about what it’s like to be relatively unknown at a race and the advantage that provides.
Mike Wolfe also talks about what his experience as an American at the Ultra-Trail du Mont Mont Blanc. He touches on the special mountain culture of the area, how he’d like the American ultrarunning scene to grow, and how every American ultrarunner should run UTMB at least once. He also talks about using trekking poles in the race, the differences between American and UTMB aid stations, the ease of being an English-speaker racing in non-English speaking countries.
Related articles:
- Pre-2011 TNF UTMB Interview with Koerner, Bragg, and Wolfe An interview with Jez Bragg, Hal Koerner, and Mike Wolfe prior to the 2011 TNF Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc....
- Mike Wolfe 2011 TNF 50 Mile Pre-Race Interview An interview with Mike Wolfe before the 2011 The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Championships....
- The 2010 Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc in Pictures A photo chronicle of the 2010 Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc....
Filed under Interviews and Profiles, Races ·
Bryon Powell is the Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar.com, which he founded five years ago. Also the author of Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, he's quickly approaching 10 years as an ultrarunner and 20 years as a trail runner. These days he calls Park City, Utah and its trails home.
All posts by Bryon Powell
Mike Wolfe is a beast, but it wasn’t the real thing.
WET, regardless of whether it “was the real thing,” it was the thing this year. No need to separately degrade Mike’s and Lizzie’s and Jez’s performances. Your repeated comment would be best served and more appreciated under our general race summary. These individuals did not control in the slightest which course was run or who showed up at the starting line. They showed up and kicked ass.
jez pipe bombed the col, directly causing the mudslides leading to the cancellation of UTMB.
WET, I’ll give you bonus creativity points for this one. I suppose Mike was in on controlling the weather.
Great run from a great guy. Keep it up Wolf-O.
Pure Montana awesome.
I like that dude, and congratulations to him! He raced who showed up. I admire him for making the best of the situation.
Yeah Mike, Hometown runner He showed up and got the job done! Most Excellent
It was still an amazing race and a brilliant experience despite us having to miss running 47 km of the course. Having a restart on the second day had its own challenges and, in some ways, it made it more of a difficult race. I loved the UTMB and didn’t feel at all disappointed with my experience; the organizers did a great job at pulling together the restart. But I agree with Mike – I want to go back next year for some unfinished business!
yer lookin a bit chunky there mike
Mike is such a classy guy! Super nice, very genuine, and extremely tough. I’d say he’s definitely the most underrated fast-guy in US ultrarunning.